Bristol Rovers verdict: Commitment to high-press and set-piece specialism key to beating Oxford

Bristol Rovers were victorious in the early kick off of League One, with John Marquis scoring the only goal as the Gas ran out 1-0 winners against a poor Oxford United side.

The away side started the more dominant, and Marquis’ header after 34 minutes came against the run of play when Aaron Collins managed to poke an Antony Evans free kick into the path of the Rovers’ number nine and past Simon Eastwood.

Marquis couldn’t miss and headed the ball into an empty net, scoring his first since his move to the club.

With that in mind, we’ve put together what went well for Joey Barton’s side and the contributing factors in their win.

Collins’ brilliance

The striker was the league’s top goalscorer before the start of play, and was playing with the confidence you’d expect of that title. He regularly picked the ball up from deep, running at Oxford defenders and it was his touch that poked the ball past Simon Eastwood to set Marquis up for an open goal. The striker was the best player on the pitch in the first half and struck fear into the Oxford defence whenever he picked up the ball.

Rovers’ high pressing

Despite the temperatures of 35 degrees, Joey Barton’s men pressed intensively, something that worked so well for them in League Two last season. Saunders especially worked his socks off in the August sunshine and was relentless in his quest to win the ball back and his hard work was rewarded when he received a standing ovation.

It was this high pressing that didn’t allow the visitors to play out from the back and they resulted in hitting long balls, which centre backs Hoole and Connolly met more often than not.

Triple change does the job

Looking to run out some time, and install some fresh legs into his side with ten minutes to go, Joey Barton made a triple substitution with Ryan Loft, Josh Grant, and newbie Lewis Gibson making his debut.

Rovers slotted into a back five from then, with Grant coming in at left wing-back and debutant Gibson joining James Connolly and Luca Hoole in centre back for the Oxford bombardment to come. Loft also replaced goalscorer Marquis up top and should’ve wrapped up the result with five to go.

The striker did the hard bit of nicking the ball off an Oxford defender but his shot at an on-rushing Simon Eastwood was tame and easy for the keeper to collect.

Set piece specialists

With two of the four goals at Burton Albion a week ago coming from set pieces, Joey Barton’s side have been clinical from their routines this season and today was no different with help from another fantastic set piece routine.

It was played short to Sam Finley, with the playmaker with a pass of the season contender to find Collins in behind, who poked it past Simon Eastwood leaving Marquis with a free header and an open goal.

Not only were the Gas good in the opposition box from set pieces, but they were also exceptional in their own. Oxford chucked everything at a fairly young defence, but they stood strong and recorded a first home victory of the season, one that Barton dedicated to Nick Anderton after the game.