Oxford United

Nathan Albon
5 Live Sport reporter at the Riverside

Image source, Getty Images

As the gulls swooped around the Riverside looking for tasty morsels… there were no such delights for Middlesbrough today.

Real sense of opportunity missed as second from top played second from bottom.

Oxford clung on at times, but came with a clear gameplan. They came on the team bus, and they parked that bus… Blocks, tackles, clearances, the lot.

And they were a threat on the break - twice hitting the woodwork through Stanley Mills and Myles Peart-Harris in the first half.

So Oxford drag themselves closer to safety, but they're still five points adrift.

And Middlesbrough, who were two points clear before losing to Coventry on Monday, now find themselves winless in two and three points behind the leaders

Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield felt his side might have had more to show for their efforts after twice hitting the woodwork in their goalless draw at promotion-chasing Middlesbrough.

The U's followed up a 0-0 draw at leaders Coventry earlier this month with another spirited display to earn a share of the spoils against one of the division's best sides.

Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford: "I thought we were better today than at Coventry. It's similar, but different. I thought we were excellent first half, had the two best chances of the half.

"I'll be honest with you, at Coventry I was grateful for the point. Today, I was a bit disappointed that we haven't got ourselves ahead [by] one, maybe even two, in the game.

"I think Middlesbrough are as good as it gets in the league. They are brilliant, the way they move the ball, some of the players they have got are fantastic. They are going to have spells of chances and we had to maybe ride our luck at times.

"I'm actually thinking that was a different performance to Coventry because we imposed ourselves on the game today, especially in the first half.

"That's two good performances in a row and two good performances where we can go after more."

Oxford, who moved to within five points of safety following Saturday's draw at the Riverside, travel to Stoke on Tuesday.

Middlesbrough had their six-game winning streak in the Championship ended by Coventry City on Monday night - a result which meant the Sky Blues returned to the top of the table and Boro dropped to second place.

Oxford United are without a win in their past four games, including three defeats, and are six points adrift of safety with 14 games remaining.

• Middlesbrough are unbeaten in their past 11 league games against Oxford (W8 D3), with their last defeat against them coming in February 1990 (1-3) under Bruce Rioch.

• Oxford have lost 11 of their 14 away league matches against Middlesbrough (W2 D1), scoring just nine goals across the 14 matches (0.6 per game).

• Middlesbrough have won their past three home league matches without conceding a goal – they last won and kept a clean sheet in four straight league games at the Riverside between April and September 2018 (5), under Tony Pulis.

• Only Sheffield Wednesday (1) have scored fewer Championship goals in 2026 than Oxford (4). However, all four of those have been netted in away games, only failing to score in one of their four matches on the road since the turn of the year.

• Middlesbrough are the only side yet to drop a point from a winning position in the Championship this season, going on to win all 18 games when taking the lead.

Image source, EFL

Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

"It's five games at home now under the new manager where we haven't scored a goal, which is frustrating, but chalk and cheese in terms of the performances, the way that we move the ball, the threat that we posed, the defensive unit.

"Credit to the players for standing up having come through a very low moment [against Norwich]."

The Dub podcast reflects on a tough week for the U's after a disheartening defeat by Norwich City in the Championship and an unlucky loss to Premier League Sunderland in the FA Cup fourth round, before discussing what effect Matt Bloomfield's tactical decisions are having and Oxford's position at this stage of the season.

Jason Mohammed is joined by Paul Robinson and Leon Osman to bring all you the action and talking points from Sunday's FA Cup ties.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Grimsby Town 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Birmingham City 1-1 Leeds United

• Oxford United 0-1 Sunderland

There are five ties in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Birmingham v Leeds (12:00) - BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio WM & BBC Radio Leeds

• Grimsby v Wolves (13:30) - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2, BBC Radio Humberside & BBC Radio WM

• Oxford United v Sunderland - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3, BBC Radio Oxford & BBC Radio Newcastle

• Stoke v Fulham - BBC Radio Stoke

• Arsenal v Wigan (16:30) - BBC Radio Manchester

Kick-off times 14:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Birmingham v Leeds" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Oxford United v Sunderland", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to football on BBC Sounds

Both of these teams got through the last round on penalties, with Oxford beating MK Dons and Sunderland overcoming Everton.

I don't see Sunderland needing a shootout this time, though. Oxford are pretty woeful at the moment and have just been spanked by Norwich - they are not coming back from that.

Regis le Bris will make changes but the Black Cats will still be far too strong.

Sutton's prediction: 0-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Oxford United can put their Championship struggles to one side on Sunday as they try to cause an FA Cup upset at home to Premier League Sunderland.

The U's have failed to score in any of their past five home games, last finding the net in a 2-1 Championship win over Southampton on Boxing Day.

• This is the third FA Cup tie between Oxford and Sunderland – the U's won 2-0 in a third round replay in 1988-89, while the Black Cats won 3-2 in the fourth round in 1991-92, eventually reaching the final.

• Sunderland lost their last meeting with Oxford last April in the Championship but they have never lost consecutive games against the U's in all competitions.

• Oxford United are hoping to reach the FA Cup fifth round for just the second time this century, previously doing so in 2016-17. The U's have been eliminated in 10 of their past 12 fourth round ties.

• This is only Sunderland's second FA Cup fourth round tie in the past 11 seasons – they were knocked out by Fulham in 2022-23 at this stage. They last reached the fifth round in the 2014-15 campaign.

• Oxford have been eliminated in eight of their past nine FA Cup ties against Premier League opponents, progressing only against Swansea City in 2015-16 in this run, beating them 3-2 in the third round.

Image source, Shuterstock

Oxford United's players are "the angriest" people around the club, according to defender Michal Helik, after fans made their feeling known about the U's current position.

The U's were beaten 3-0 at home by Norwich City on Tuesday night, leaving them still four points from safety in the Championship with 14 games to play.

"We were nowhere good enough, we conceded an early goal and in the second half as well so the timings were awful," Helik told BBC Radio Oxford.

"We need to take responsibility on the pitch as players. I'm not happy with my performance first of all and I'm not happy with the team's performance.

"We need to look in the mirror - it's not about the structure, it's on us on the pitch as players."

Oxford have also created a club record by going five home games in the league without scoring which led to a number of fans leaving early on Tuesday while others booed the team off.

"It's not great, we defend as a whole team and attack as a whole team," the 30-year-old added.

"We understand the morale [of the fans] but we are not happy, we are the angriest at the stadium and we'll do everything to change it.

"This season we're struggling to put two performances together - that's our main problem. We did well at Coventry to get a point, keep a clean sheet but it was not enough today."

Oxford meet Sunderland in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday (14:00 GMT).

Image source, Rex Features

Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield says that he "takes responsibility" after "getting things wrong" in their defeat to Norwich on Tuesday.

The U's conceded in the first minute before going on to lose by three as Mohamed Toure scored a hattrick for the visitors.

Fans booed the players at the break and full-time with large numbers of them leaving before the final whistle.

"It's very dissapointing, we know we got things wrong tonight," Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford.

"I know that I got things wrong tonight and I take responsibility for that, we played as high and as attacking as we possibly could but unfortunately the first goal puts a pin in us which is really dissapointing.

"All three goals were completely avoidable tonight from our point of view but as I said I'll take responsility for that.

"We got some things in our set-up as well as how and when we wanted to go and press, I did think we looked quite tired tonight, we've had four game in ten days and I thought we looked emotionally drained by the end."

Relegation-battling Oxford United will hope to boost their Championship survival hopes when they welcome a much-improved Norwich City on Tuesday night (kick-off 19:45 GMT).

The U's are 23rd and four points from safety following a run of just one win in their past eight games (D3 L4), though Matt Bloomfield's side did pick up a battling point at leaders Coventry last time out.

The Canaries have won eight of their 15 games since Philippe Clement was appointed (D3 L5), including four of the past five, to climb from second bottom and five points adrift of safety up to 17th - four points clear of the drop zone.

• Oxford United have lost only one of their past six league meetings with Norwich City (W3 D2) and are unbeaten against the Canaries this century (P3 W1 D2).

• Norwich City have alternated between winning and losing across their previous eight trips to face Oxford United in the Football League, losing 2-0 in this fixture last season.

• Oxford United have failed to score in each of their past four home league games (D2 L2), the joint-longest run of their Football League history (also September 1978, May 1990 and February 1995).

• Norwich City have won three of their four Championship away games so far in 2026 (L1), only one fewer victory than the Canaries managed on the road across 23 matches in 2025 (W4 D8 L11).

• No team have played more midweek games (Tue/Wed/Thu) without winning in the top four tiers of English football this season than Oxford United (P8 D4 L4), who are winless in 12 overall in midweek (D5 L7) since a 3-2 home win against Luton Town in January 2025.

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield said that he was "incredibly proud" of his players after a draw against league leaders Coventry City.

Despite being reduced to ten men the U's held on to frusrtate the hosts and leave the CBS Arena with a point.

"Thank you to the fans for their support today through the game and at the end, they certainly recognise the grit and determination the players played with," Bloomfield told BBC Radio Oxford.

"It was always going to be a tough game coming away to the team top of the table, but the way the boys dug in and showed resilience I'm incredibly proud of them today.

"Going away from home to the leaders and getting a point is a really good point - we have to be incredibly proud, getting a clean sheet, too."

Oxford are next in action when they take on Norwich City at the Kassam in midweek.