Brandon Thomas-Asante scores first Coventry goal to see off Oxford

Posted Wednesday, August 28, 2024 by PA

Brandon Thomas-Asante scored his first goal for Coventry as they beat Oxford 1-0 to book their place in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

The summer signing from West Brom saw his deflected effort loop over helpless goalkeeper Matt Ingram to secure the Sky Blues’ place in the third round for the first time in 12 years.

Mark Robins’ side had claimed a 3-2 win over the U’s just 11 days ago but made nine changes from the 1-1 draw against Bristol City at the weekend.

One of those, Liam Kitching, came closest to opening the scoring when he thundered a header against the crossbar inside the first 10 minutes.

Teenage forward Norman Bassette was making his first appearance in English football and used his electrifying pace to get to the byline and cut back for Thomas-Asante, who skewed an effort wide.

Undeterred by his error, the forward took aim from outside the box in the second half and his effort flew in off Oxford defender Peter Kioso.

It was Kioso who had Oxford’s best chance at the other end, glancing a header wide in the first half, while Tottenham loanee Dane Scarlett could not find the target with another shot.

Ingram was forced into a string of saves late on from Ephron Mason-Clark, Ben Sheaf and Thomas-Asante, but Oxford were unable to get the goal they needed to take the tie to penalties.