Lewis Baker scored twice as Stoke brushed aside Oxford 3-0 at the Kassam Stadium to move up to second place in the Sky Bet Championship.
Steven Nzonzi was also on target. scoring the best goal of the night, making it eight in two matches for Mark Robins’ men after their 5-1 drubbing of Bristol City at the weekend.
Baker put the Potters ahead in the 10th minute, finishing off his team’s fast counter-attack after they had cleared a Will Vaulks long throw.
Nzonzi doubled the lead with a classy second goal in the 32nd minute as he peeled away from a group of players to volley in Baker’s right-wing corner.
And when Baker followed up his own blocked shot with a smart low finish three minutes into the second half to make it three, the match was effectively over as a contest.
The visitors were highly impressive as they attacked with numbers and at pace, and on this form they look genuine promotion contenders.
Oxford had also been in good spirits at the start after they managed to salvage a 2-2 draw against Millwall at the weekend thanks to Przemy Placheta’s stoppage-time equaliser.
The hosts made a fast start here, forcing a corner in the first few seconds which Greg Leigh almost headed in at the far post.
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Lewis Baker gives Stoke City an early lead at Oxford United after tapping in from close range.
City countered at pace to break the deadlock. Million Manhoef played in Divin Mubama and although Jamie Cumming saved Mubama’s effort, it was simple for Baker to net the follow-up.
From Oxford’s viewpoint, it was a soft goal, similar to those they had conceded against Millwall.
However, the home side were soon putting good moves together again, and from Placheta’s pass, Stan Mills shot over.
Often playing out from the back through Nzonzi, Stoke enjoyed a good spell midway through the first half, and were unlucky not to extend their lead.
First Sorba Thomas forced Cumming into a low save from 20 yards, and the Oxford goalkeeper then kept out Manhoef’s deflected shot with an acrobatic save to his right.
It was no more than the visitors deserved when Nzonzi struck to make it 2-0.
Placheta was within inches of halving the deficit just before the break. Cameron Brannagan released Stan Mills on the right, and from his cutback, Placheta drilled a low shot past Viktor Johansson but just past the far post too.
Mills almost caught Johansson off his line with a shot from 45 yards at the start of the second half, the effort hitting the top of the bar as the keeper backpeddled frantically.
Yet moments later Baker got his second, following a fast break on the right, ending any doubts about the outcome.
The managers
Oxford’s Gary Rowett:
“I would say that was as poor a performance as we’ve had since I’ve been here, and that was disappointing on the back of finishing the way we did against Millwall.
“We should have been a goal to the good early on – Greg (Leigh) gets a brilliant chance and maybe just mistimes his jump.
“Then the first goal we concede is so poor, the second one is a set piece where we let Nzonzi run off us for a good finish.
“Then the third one comes right at the start of the second half when you’ve changed things tactically and you hope you’ve given yourself a chance.
“That summed up the evening, where we can’t get going because we don’t give ourselves an opportunity to do that.”
Stoke’s Mark Robins:
“Lewis is a top player and there’s lots of goals in him. You know he’s not going to be far away from the back of the net. He’s just got a lot of quality, and he’s good in different areas of the pitch.
“His individual performance was really good, and so was the whole team’s.
“We didn’t try and overdo things – once or twice we did and had one or two touches too many – but the aspects of the performances I like are when we do things simply and when we do things in and out of possession really quickly.
“We were good in possession and equally good out of possession.”
