Oxford boss Michael Appleton saluted a “magnificent” performance after Kemar Roofe sent Swansea tumbling out of the FA Cup.
Roofe scored a superb quickfire double as League Two side United stunned their Premier League visitors 3-2 in the first major shock of this season’s third round.
Swansea began with a superb Jefferson Montero strike which would have lit up any game, but ended up with a chastening defeat which was compounded by an an alleged altercation between Jonjo Shelvey and some of the travelling supporters.
Appleton said: “I thought the performance was magnificent. To beat a Premier League team on your own patch is one thing, but the way we did it, the way we passed the ball and the chances we created at times was great.
“We had to dig deep when it was 3-2 but we showed composure. We knew if we stuck to what we do best that we’d get opportunities. We pressed as high as we could and I think it unsettled them at times.”
There was little sign of the drama to come when Swansea took the lead, albeit against the run of play. Montero charged into the area, played a neat one-two with Marvin Emnes and impudently backheeled the ball past United goalkeeper Sam Slocombe.
But Oxford deservedly hit back through Liam Sercombe’s penalty, after Kyle Bartley’s foul on Alex McDonald, just before half-time.
Roofe then stole the show after the break, firing in a stunning curler from the edge of the area before starting and finishing a lightning breakaway move which began with his header from Swansea’s corner.
Kemar Roofe another reminder of a great FA Cup aspect - seeing top flight 'rejects' (too harsh a word) rebuilding career lower down
— Guy Mowbray (@Guymowbray) January 10, 2016The 23-year-old, who joined Oxford from West Brom in the summer, is already attracting admiring advances from Championship clubs, and after this performance Premier League sides will probably start taking notice as well.
But Appleton added: “He’s an Oxford United player and he’s happy to be one.”
Midfielder Shelvey went over to the crowd after the match, but one or two supporters apparently gave him a rather blunt assessment of his performance.
“I saw him go over but I thought everything was okay,” said boss Alan Curtis. “But there is a suggestion that some of the crowd were having a go at him, I didn’t see that.”
