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Prelec header gives Oxford lead, Placheta adds stunning second Mehmeti replies with rocket for Robins but De Keersmaecker makes it 3-1 Bristol City's unbeaten Championship start ended as they stay third Gary Rowett's Oxford climb to 20th with first league win Alex Hoad and Jamie Riley FT: Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Another EFL weekend in the books, and this one was rounded-off in style as Oxford United produced a display blending quality and character to end their winless run and give Bristol City some cause for reflection. By the way, Brian De Keersmaecker arrived at Oxford in the summer with an injury, he's only played 90 minutes three times, in their past three games, the draws with Coventry and Leicester and now a win at Bristol City in which he scored and assisted. Keep an eye on him, and them. .. We'll be back tomorrow night, hopefully for more drama, as Millwall welcome Watford south of the river for Monday night football. Thanks for your company today, enjoy what's left of your Sunday and we'll see you tomorrow! #bbcefl Friday was good, Saturday was even better and now Sunday is sizzling in the Championship. .. what does Monday have in store? We'll be back tomorrow night for Millwall v Watford, the final game of the weekend. High bar, lads. .. FT: Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Eddie Odhiambo Former Oxford defender on BBC Radio Oxford The goals certainly do breed confidence, especially when you are playing well already. Oxford responded well to Bristol City pressure which was crucial and will grow the confidence. FT: Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Gary Owers Former Bristol City midfielder on BBC Radio Bristol At half-time I was thinking that changes could have been made. Bristol City were so open in the first half and Oxford were exploiting that. We did make the changes in the second half and ended up with three up top, but it wasn't enough. FT: Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Oxford United's fine victory means we are down to one winless team in the Championship - point-less Sheffield United, who are now four points adrift. Meanwhile leaders Middlesbrough have a four-point cushion at the top and are one of just two unbeaten sides remaining after six games, along with Coventry. This season has got off to a blistering and fascinating start, and we have one game remaining on Monday night as Watford head to Millwall with both sides seeking to pull clear of the basement battle. FT: Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Eddie Odhiambo Former Oxford defender on BBC Radio Oxford This result has been coming for the last two weeks. Oxford rode their luck at times, but it is also about the quality shown today. It nearly happened against Leicester but it has happened today and it could get even better. FT: Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Gary Owers Former Bristol City midfielder on BBC Radio Bristol Frustrating for sure. It was very disappointing. Bristol City never reached the levels that we have seen so far this season. I'm not going to go overboard because it has been a good start to the season, but many people would have been coming into Ashton Gate expecting something today that have left disappointed. Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Bristol City are unbeaten no more. Oxford United are winless no more. The Championship has once again served us up a Sunday feast. Nik Prelec powered home a first-half header from a perfect free-kick from Brian De Keersmaecker and Przemyslaw Placheta then arrowed into the top-corner on the stroke of half-time to double the lead. Anis Mehmeti gave City hope with a thunderbolt strike of his own with City's first attempt on target but the hugely impressive Belgian midfielder De Keersmaecker curled in another free-kick to seal it late-on, though Greg Leigh might claim the final touch. Oxford move out of the bottom three while City remain in third, having needed only a point to move into the automatic promotion spots. A hugely entertaining game on a top weekend of second-tier action. Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Ashton Gate was a sell-out today, but there are fewer than half the seats left occupied as the Oxford fans make all the noise in the away end. All jeopardy has gone for them. Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Eddie Odhiambo Former Oxford defender on BBC Radio Oxford There is still plenty of time left, so work still needs to be done by Oxford. We just want a dull last few minutes. Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United Ross Heaton Commentator, BBC Radio Bristol Bristol City's unbeaten run is surely over now. It would take a Herculean effort to overturn this now. Bristol City 1-3 Oxford United We're into EIGHT added minutes which on paper is enough for City, but it feels like the air has been let out of their balloon, in truth. Greg Leigh (or Brian De Keersmaecker) Won't be 2-2 today. .. Another glorious free-kick from Brian De Keersmaecker who curls the ball in perfectly from the left flank, sub Greg Leigh stoops to try and glance the ball on and it bounces past the dive of Radek Vitek and inside the far post. Leigh is claiming it, but that might well have gone in untouched. Gary Rowett won't care, his side are heading for a first win of the season, and what a win it will be. Bristol City 1-2 Oxford United Starting to get a little frantic from City as they bid to get the ball forward and you just feel there might be a chance for Oxford to break if they can intercept one of the many passes from the middle out wide. Oxford have drawn their past two games 2-2, a third here would be a sickener. Rob Dickie has his name taken after hauling back Siriki Dembele as he tries to muscle clear on the left. Bristol City 1-2 Oxford United Eddie Odhiambo Former Oxford defender on BBC Radio Oxford Everyone knows how good Scott Twine is from free-kicks so it was a poor one to give away but the wall did its job and are celebrating it like a goal. Bristol City 1-2 Oxford United Sinclair Armstrong and Fally Mayulu are coming on for the hosts in attack, that free-kick was the last action of the day for Scott Twine and Adam Randell is also off. Bristol City 1-2 Oxford United Free-kick for Bristol City in Scott Twine territory, won by Twine under pressure from Michal Helik. Twine has actually grabbed a few inches, 25 yards out, moving it further away from goal, allowing him more room to work some magic, but his effort deflects off the wall and away for a corner, which Oxford deal with manfully. Bristol City 1-2 Oxford United City centre-back Rob Dickie leaps like a salmon to control a ball on his chest on the right touchline then channels his inner David Beckham by whipping in a first-time cross on the volley, which flies 15 yards further than Beckham would have put it, and out for a throw. Jack Currie is limping off with a touch of cramp for the visitors with Greg Leigh coming on for the closing stages. They have run themselves into the ground in pursuit of their first win of the season, but they aren't there yet. .. Bristol City 1-2 Oxford United Cameron Brannagan hobbles off for Oxford after a heck of a shift, on the field and in the City midfield's heads too, if we're honest Fulham loanee Luke Harris replaces him with less than 10 minutes of normal time to play. How his side might miss Brannagan's influence if the hosts are to mount a grandstand finish. Bristol City 1-2 Oxford United Gary Owers Former Bristol City midfielder on BBC Radio Bristol A good strike from the edge of the box is saved well by Vitek and Lankshear probably should score the follow up, but somehow it is kept out. Two of Oxford's goals came from free-kicks, as Bristol City lost for the first time in in the Championship this season Oxford United clinched their first Championship win of the season, frustrating in-form Bristol City to move out of the bottom three. Nik Prelec opened the scoring on his first U's start, heading in from a curling free-kick, before Przemyslaw Placheta doubled the lead seconds before the break with a rocket of a shot into the top corner. Anis Mehmeti pulled one back with his own thunder strike from the edge of the area early in the second half. But Brian De Keersmaecker put the game to bed with a 90th-minute free-kick that went through a crowd of players and into the net. After three defeats, Oxford seem to have turned a corner, backing up two draws with their first league win to ease pressure on boss Gary Rowett, while the Robins failed to take a chance to go second, suffering their first Championship loss under Gerhard Struber. Oxford showed early signs of their threat when Placheta raced into the box, but in a tight angle at the near post on-loan keeper Radek Vitek covered from close range to keep him out. Bristol City had plenty of their own chances in a lively start, but against the momentum Oxford took the lead when Prelec won a free-kick and De Keersmaecker sweetly curled the ball in for the Slovenian to nod into the net. Oxford repeatedly looked dangerous from set-pieces and Will Lanksheer failed to make it 2-0 minutes later, shooting on the volley from a long throw, which Videk dived to keep out. City's attack has been potent this season but in the Ashton Gate sunshine it looked off-colour as Riis found Mehmeti in space but Sam Long got a foot in to push his shot behind, and Brodie Spencer acrobatically kept out Mehmeti's corner that was creeping inside the post. Riis somehow failed to find the net from a yard out but his blushes were spared by the offside flag being raised, and he then dragged an effort wide, missing another chance to equalise. Oxford made City pay before the break when the hosts failed to deal with another set-piece. Jason Knight's poor clearance from a corner gave the ball straight to Placheta, who took a touch and fired into the top corner as Videk could only watch. Mehmeti pulled one back and appeared to inject life back into the hosts, taking his tally so far this season to four, with a goal out of nowhere, cutting inside and shooting with his right foot from outside the box off the bar and over the line. Vitek made another vital save to keep his side in the game and Lankshear failed to bury the follow-up, as Bristol City lived dangerously. And as tensions ramped up in the final 15 minutes, it was Oxford who held their nerve. De Keersmaecker's free-kick appeared to take a deflection off Greg Leigh, but in fact missed everyone and went straight in. After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Last Updated 21st September 2025 at 16: 56 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Gerhard Struber Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Manager: Gary Rowett Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Gerhard Struber Formation: 3 - 4 - 2 - 1 Manager: Gary Rowett Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Bristol City are unbeaten in their last five league games against Oxford United (W2 D3) since losing 3-0 in October 1999. Oxford have lost one of their last eight away league visits to Bristol City (W2 D5) though that defeat was last season in a 2-1 defeat. Bristol City are enjoying their best start to a league season (11 points in 5 games) since winning 13 in their opening five games in 2020-21, though they went onto finish 19th that campaign. Oxford were unbeaten in their first nine league games under Gary Rowett but they’ve since won four of their last 21 matches (D6 L11). Since the date of this 21-game run (4 February), the only ever-present side to win fewer points than the U’s (18) is Sheffield Wednesday (17). Bristol City’s Anis Mehmeti has both scored and assisted in each of his last two Championship appearances – he had only achieved this once in his first 129 games in the competition beforehand. Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.