Ten-man Wrexham beat Oxford for first home win

Forward Nathan Broadhead now has three goals for Wrexham and one for Wales this season

Nathan Broadhead struck the only goal of the contest as 10-man Wrexham beat Oxford United to earn their first home Championship win of the campaign.

Broadhead's shot was too powerful for Oxford goalkeeper Jamie Cumming early on as the hosts deservedly led.

Oxford offered little in attack until they were given a lift when Wrexham's Callum Doyle received a red card in the 67th minute.

But the Welsh side held on to end their four-game winless run and move up to 15th in the table.

Defeat - their sixth in the league this term - leaves Oxford in 20th, one point above the relegation zone.

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson called for a focus on delivering a quality performance after Saturday's setback at Stoke City, and even a delay to the kick-off due to a power cut could not prevent the hosts from making a fast start.

Liberato Cacace fired at Cumming from a tight angle inside the opening minute to set the tone.

Goalkeeper Cumming then handled a Cameron Brannagan back pass to give Wrexham an indirect free-kick in the Oxford penalty area - with Cacace's shot being blocked.

The home side's pressure told on 14 minutes as Matty James' corner was volleyed by Kieffer Moore, and the ball fell kindly to the striker's Wales team-mate Broadhead whose strike was too strong for Cumming.

Gary Rowett's men needed a spark, and Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo reacted well to stoop low and palm away a Stanley Mills strike.

But that was as bright as it got for Oxford as Wrexham - who saw Moore and Callum Doyle have headed efforts late on - deservedly led at the break.

The opening stages of the second half followed the theme of the first 45 minutes, although the visitors slowly grew in confidence as Will Vaulks drilled over from 25 yards out.

Oxford were given a lifeline midway through the second half as Doyle was shown a straight red card for a sliding challenge on Siriki Dembele.

Substitute Will Lankshear, who was flagged offside, headed against the crossbar from the resulting free-kick as Oxford looked to capitalise on their numerical advantage.

Josh Windass was relieved to see his header from Brannagan's deflected free-kick sail over the crossbar as the nerves of the home fans were left shredded.

Wrexham almost sealed victory in the final minute, although Cumming spectacularly tipped Sam Smith's strike on to the crossbar before denying the forward from the resulting corner.

But they saw out a tense six minutes of added time to earn a crucial three points to end their home hoodoo and leave Oxford hovering above the bottom three.

Analysis: Something had to give

The records showed it was a case of bad at home against bad away.

Wrexham were winless in their opening five Championship fixtures on their own patch while Oxford had won just one in five on the road in the league.

Something had to give at the Stok Cae Ras.

Gary Rowett stuck with the same 11 that started Saturday's 1-0 win over Derby County. On the flip side, Parkinson made four changes from his side's 1-0 loss at Stoke City.

And the hosts brought the energy from the word go, with their press helping to give them a level of control they have rarely been afforded since returning to the second tier for the first time since the 1981-82 campaign.

Cacace was a menace on the left flank while Broadhead and Moore led by example up top.

It typified the kind of strength in depth Parkinson now has at his disposal, with key performers such as Lewis O'Brien, Windass and Ben Sheaf being left out of the starting line-up.

It contributed to Oxford offering precious little in attack - with the U's recording an XG (expected goals) of just 0.03 in the first half having had only two touches in the Wrexham box.

The away side marginally improved in the second half and got more of a foothold after Doyle was sent off.

But even then they failed to trouble Okonkwo - ending the match with an XG of 0.15 as Wrexham kept just a second league clean sheet of the campaign.

In this case, it was home comforts at long last for Parkinson and his Wrexham side as Oxford's away woes continued.

What they said

Oxford United boss Gary Rowett:

"We knew we were coming here to a motivated Wrexham team that wanted to win their first home game of the season.

"First 30 minutes we didn't play well enough, we didn't deal with them as a team, we were too passive and I thought they were good so I don't want to take any credit away from them.

"We changed about 15 minutes before half time and got a little bit more of a grip on the game.

"Second half I thought we were good in terms of our build but we just didn't have the quality at the end of it, and I think that was the frustration."