Oxford United made it back-to-back 4-0 wins in Sky Bet League One after convincingly beating Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium.
After recording the biggest win of the season on Easter Monday against Fleetwood, United backed it up again with two goals from Mark Harris and strikes from Josh Murphy and James Henry to secure another 4-0 victory, with a fantastic performance to match.
United started on the front foot and almost took the lead inside five minutes when Josh Murphy curled just wide of the right post as he took aim from the corner of the penalty box.
Mark Harris had the first effort on target on 17 minutes with a header straight at the goalkeeper, but seven minutes later he would break the deadlock.
From an attacking throw-in, Burton threw men into the Oxford penalty area but when the ball was cleared, the last man on the halfway line, Tolaji Bola, didn’t judge the bounce of the ball correctly, leaving Harris to run on goal from the halfway line. After scoring two on Easter Monday, he made it three goals in a week as he rounded the goalkeeper and coolly slotted home.
One sour note for United was the injury to Cameron Brannagan, who was forced off for Josh McEachran just after the half-hour mark.
Owen Dale got his first Oxford goal on Monday and he went close to doubling his tally in Burton, but he failed to keep his shot down from close range after a lightning counter-attack which was created by Harris’s superb hold-up play.
Burton did hit the crossbar in injury time of the first-half when Joe Powell's in-swinging corner curled onto the top of the woodwork and bounced away.
But it was the U's that continued the momentum in the second-half, with Tyler Goodrham forcing Max Crocombe into a reaction save from close range just minutes after the restart.
Murphy has been the in-form man this year and he almost saw a cross from the left sneak into the net, but the ball went over the keeper's head and just sailed wide.
Harris set up Goodhram's chance at the start of the second-half and in the 53rd minute they combined again, with the academy product again denied with a first-time effort which Crocombe tipped away from the bottom-right corner.
United were creating chance after chance, and Harris had the best opportunity to make it 2-0 on 55 minutes as he chased down the keeper to win the ball back. From a tight angle and with the goal open he could only hit the side netting.
It wouldn't matter as, two minutes later, Harris did make it two. Murphy was sent down the left wing in acres of space and his pace took him into the area to simply pass the ball across to Harris, who tapped it into an unmarked goal.
Oxford were flying and Murphy made it 3-0 on 62 minutes. It was a trademark goal from the former Norwich player, as he raced more than half the length of the pitch on his own, beating the last man back for Burton before easily slotting into the bottom-right corner.
United were running riot at this point and substitute James Henry made it 4-0 on 69 minutes. The forward was tenacious in not letting the ball go after a challenge from a Burton defender, as he took control of possession and placed a shot into the corner.
It was the end of the scoring and it was a result that moved Oxford into the top six. Overall, it was a wonderful afternoon for all the U's fans in Burton, with all eyes now on three huge home games in six days.
Attendance: 3,700 - including 1,018 away fans.
Report: Ryan Maher
Photography: Steve Daniels, Steve Edmunds, Darrell Fisher
