Oxford United went down to a one-goal defeat against Premier League bound Leeds United, thanks to a Manor Solomon goal after 33 minutes.
Gary Rowett made two changes to the side that beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Hillsborough on Saturday, with Przemysław Płacheta coming in for Stan Mills and Mark Harris replacing Tom Bradshaw against a Leeds side unchanged from their 2-1 home win over Preston North End last weekend.
Oxford carved out the first opportunity with just one minute on the clock as Sam Long got on the end of a corner in the six-yard box, but was unable to get a clean contact with his header.
Five minutes later, United broke after Alex Matos stole the ball and Tyler Goodrham fed Cameron Brannagan, whose shot from 20 yards forced Karl Darlow into a sprawling save, with Płacheta just unable to control the rebound.
The U's defence repelled everything that Leeds threw at them, and when Brenden Aaronson did get through on goal, he found Jamie Cumming at his unbeatable best, throwing out an arm to divert the shot away from danger.
On the half hour it was Ben Nelson to the rescue as Solomon got onto the end of a long ball forward and played it across the face of goal.
Two minutes later Leeds were ahead as Jayden Bogle's low cross was emphatically converted at the back post by Solomon to take the visitors back to the top of the Championship.
The second half started with Oxford on the front foot, but they had to be wary of Leeds breaking at pace, as demonstrated when Bogle found himself in space, shooting narrowly wide from just outside the area.
The game had settled into a largely even affair, with neither side creating much until three minutes from time, when Ao Tanaka's shot was brilliantly tipped against the post by Cumming and the ball rolled along the line before being cleared.
United continued to apply the pressure in stoppage time, pressing high and forcing the Leeds defence into errors, from which Oxford were unable to capitalise.
In the last few minutes the U's laid siege to the visitors' goal, and in the end Leeds knew that they had been tested, and Oxford could consider themselves hard-done by to get nothing from the game.
Three matches left with a big one next as Oxford travel to Cardiff on Easter Monday.
UNITED: Cumming, Long, Vaulks, Płacheta (Mills 80), Brannagan, Harris (Romeny 65), Bennett (Leigh 65), Nelson, Matos (Bradshaw 80), Goodrham (El Mizouni 89), Helik
Unused subs: Ingram, Phillips, Rodrigues, Kioso
Attendance: 11,537 (including 1,517 from Leeds)
Fifty/50 draw: Ticket number 49583 wins £1,740
Report: Martin Brodetsky; Photography: JasonPix, Steve Daniels, Steve Edmunds, Darrell Fisher
