Banel seals Derby win as Oxford United's survival fight goes on

Derby made light work of Oxford United's visit, running the show from start to finish in a performance that underlined the considerable gap between seventh and twenty-second place. Banel settled the contest early with a clinical finish, and despite Oxford's stubborn resistance, the visitors created precious little to suggest they might trouble Lynch in the Derby goal.

The opening quarter told you everything about this encounter. Derby suffocated Oxford with possession, stringing together 72 percent of the ball whilst the visitors were left chasing shadows. Szmodics slipped a pass into Banel on the 22nd minute and the striker made no mistake, finding the corner with a composed finish. It was a moment of quality in an otherwise laboured display, but it proved sufficient.

What made Derby's control so complete was Oxford's utter passivity. They managed just eight shots across the ninety minutes, none of them troubling the Derby keeper with any real conviction. Their passing accuracy hovered around 73 percent, a far cry from Derby's crisp 88 percent, and they simply lacked the creative spark to trouble a Rams side that completed 492 passes to their meagre 183. This was not a match where Oxford came within a whisker of an upset. This was a chasm.