FootyChatter.com

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi restored Stoke's lead early in the second half Jesurun Rak-Sakyi scored his first Stoke City goal to further damage Oxford United's flagging Championship survival bid. The 23-year-old, on loan from Crystal Palace, grabbed the winner in the 56th minute to ease the pressure on the Potters being dragged into a relegation scrap and leave them seven points shy of the play-off places. The same cannot be said for the U's, who find themselves six points adrift of safety and West Brom in 21st place. Lamine Cisse opened the scoring for the hosts, before Ciaron Brown levelled for Oxford on the stroke of half-time. Stoke stirred early on when Tommy Simkin released a 12th-minute pass through the middle for Million Manhoef. He played in Rak-Sakyi, who fired a low shot at Jamie Cumming. The Oxford goalkeeper was forced into action again just five minutes later when he denied Eric Bocat's low drive. The opening third of the game was dominated by Stoke, with the home side maintaining possession, albeit unable to find a breakthrough. Sorba Thomas was the next player to test his luck, with his 20th-minute shot flying wide of the post. The visitors had to wait until the 25th minute for their first sight of the Stoke goal, when Will Lankshear's shot from the edge of the area was gathered by Simkin. The deadlock was finally broken on 37 minutes thanks to a swift move, with Manhoef playing in Cisse, who converted sweetly past Cumming. Despite their first-half dominance, the Potters were pegged back on the stroke of half-time. Will Vaulks chipped the ball into the box, finding the unmarked Stanley Mills, who headed the ball across the face of the goal for Brown to volley home from eight yards. Oxford went close to a second on 53 minutes when Lankshear backheeled a powerful Cameron Brannagan free-kick against the Stoke crossbar. But, just three minutes later, the hosts had restored their lead as Rak-Sakyi was at the far post to head home following a delicate left-wing cross from Thomas for his eighth assist of the campaign. The hosts could have scored a third 18 minutes before the end when Cisse could only watch in anguish as his looping attempt was cleared away by Vaulks. Stoke City manager Mark Robins told BBC Radio Stoke: "I'm pleased with some of the performance and the result, immensely. I am pleased with the way the supporters stuck by us and helped us get that result over the line. "When there is an opponent sat in front of you with a low block or a mid block then it is really difficult to break down. We knew we had to play in a certain way, and I thought we got the balance almost spot on. "The only disappointment for me was the defending on the set-play and we allowed them back into the game when we should have been one, two or three up by that stage. "We were brave, took the ball in good positions, and to all intents and purposes did the right thing a lot of the time. I'm still looking for more. It isn't quite there yet, but it was enough to win the game. It was a really good three points. It is a step forward for us. " This video can not be played Robins: ‘We were brave’ Oxford head coach Matt Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford: "Two soft goals from our point of view, I didn't think we hit the same levels as we did on Saturday at Middlesbrough. "I'd have liked us to be more solid out of possession, but we found our way back into the game, hit the bar and we could be talking about a different result right now. "We're playing against top opposition every week and our boys have been great recently - our performance levels have been very good. "But we have to be at our best every week, we hit those levels at times tonight, but at times I felt our shape was a little bit open for what we wanted, especially away from home. "There's certainly things we can go after again. " This video can not be played Wasn't At The Game (25/02/2026) 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 25th February 2026 at 21: 51 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Mark Robins Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Matt Bloomfield Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Mark Robins Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Matt Bloomfield Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Championship All competitions All competitions All competitions Following their 3-0 win in November, Stoke are looking to complete the league double over Oxford United for the first time. Oxford haven’t scored more than once in any of their last six league games against Stoke, netting just three goals in total (W1 D3 L2). Stoke have lost half of their midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games this season (W3 D1 L4), though one of their victories was in the reverse fixture against Oxford. Oxford are winless in their last 13 midweek (Tues, Weds, Thurs) league games (D5 L8), netting just six goals in this run. Stoke boss Mark Robins has lost just one of his six league meetings with Oxford (W3 D2), going down 1-0 at home while at Coventry in March 2019. Match ends, Stoke City 2, Oxford United 1. Second Half ends, Stoke City 2, Oxford United 1. Tatsuki Seko (Stoke City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Mark Harris (Oxford United). Attempt saved. Sorba Thomas (Stoke City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner by Jamie Cumming (Oxford United). Assisted by Million Manhoef. Substitution, Stoke City. Milan Smit replaces Lamine Cissé. Offside, Stoke City. Lamine Cissé is caught offside. Attempt blocked. Million Manhoef (Stoke City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Bae Jun-Ho. Fourth official has announced 4 minutes of added time. Foul by Ashley Phillips (Stoke City). Nik Prelec (Oxford United) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Will Vaulks (Oxford United) is shown the yellow card. Attempt saved. Tatsuki Seko (Stoke City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal by Jamie Cumming (Oxford United). Assisted by Bae Jun-Ho. Attempt missed. Steven Nzonzi (Stoke City) header from the left side of the six yard box misses to the right. Assisted by Sorba Thomas with a cross following a corner. Corner, Stoke City. Conceded by Yunus Konak. Attempt blocked. Lamine Cissé (Stoke City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Bae Jun-Ho. Substitution, Oxford United. Mark Harris replaces Myles Peart-Harris. Offside, Oxford United. Will Vaulks is caught offside. Corner, Oxford United. Conceded by Ben Wilmot. Substitution, Stoke City. Tatsuki Seko replaces Tomás Rigo. Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.