Southampton 2-0 Oxford United: Saints strike early to ease to victory
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Southampton and Oxford United at St Mary's on Saturday; Cyle Larin and Shea Charles score as Saints march on in push for play-offs.
Saturday 21 March 2026 18:29, UK
A Shea Charles wonder goal helped promotion-chasing Southampton secure their ninth Championship win in 12 games with a 2-0 victory over Oxford.
Cyle Larin was also on target as Saints extended their unbeaten run to 14 games in all competitions and consolidated their place in the top six.
With his side having already played 17 times since the turn of the year, boss Tonda Eckert made changes to a team that had shown signs of fatigue during the mid-week triumph over Norwich.
With the influential Leo Scienza still out with a groin injury, Eckert moved Finn Azaz out to the left and brought in Cameron Archer to play behind Larin.
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Matt Bloomfield's resurgent Oxford arrived in Southampton for their first league fixture in the city for almost 40 years. Three wins from four games had given the visitors genuine hope of escaping the drop, but Saturday's result leaves them second bottom.
Oxford caused a scare with an early near-post corner which Saints goalkeeper Daniel Peretz eventually grabbed hold of and, from his quick throw, the home side opened the scoring.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis found Tom Fellows with a defence-splitting pass and he pulled the ball across the six-yard box for Larin to prod home.
Saints' momentum continued as they quickly stormed into a two-goal lead.
The second came from a quickly-taken corner which saw Archer find Charles 30 yards from goal and the Northern Ireland international curled a beautiful effort into the top right-hand corner.
Southampton were dominant in every department, although the pace of the game slowed after a frenetic opening 20 minutes.
Oxford's best hope looked to be set-pieces. One corner dropped invitingly to Yunus Konak on the edge of the area, but he fired wastefully over the bar.
Saints started brightly in the second half and created an opening when Ryan Manning got down the left and picked out Azaz, who saw his effort blocked.
Bloomfield's men were finally beginning to push and Cameron Brannagan and Will Lankshear both saw shots well blocked as the hosts were forced to dig in.
Eckert freshened things up as he brought on Ross Stewart and Sam Edozie in place of Larin and Archer with half-an-hour to play.
A slip from Harwood-Bellis let in Lankshear for a golden chance, but somehow the Tottenham loanee put his shot beyond the far post with only Peretz to beat.
That sparked Saints back into life and, after a flowing team move ended with Stewart having a shot parried, Fellows struck the underside of the crossbar with the follow-up.
There was a final late chance for substitute Nicholas Oyekunle, but two goals proved more than enough.
The managers
Southampton's Tonda Eckert:
"Overall I'm very happy, the atmosphere was good in the dressing room, but not too euphoric and it shouldn't be.
"I think it's been a test of maturity today, because those games are not easy to play when you know you have the ball for long spells.
"There's never a guarantee that you can open up a game early on, but the boys knew that there was a chance to start strong and I think the first 15 minutes were excellent."
Oxford's Matt Bloomfield:
"My only concern is what we do. My focus has to be on our football club. What happens elsewhere is none of my business. That's for other people to comment on. I have to focus on what we do.
"We believe in the work we're doing. We've just had a good run of four results before this one. It breaks the cycle, but it's up to us to now put another run together."
