Neil Harris lauds Ben Knight after Cambridge leveller in draw at Oxford
Siriki Dembele had put the home side ahead.
Cambridge boss Neil Harris saluted Ben Knight after the 1-1 draw at Oxford maintained his team’s unbeaten start away from home this season.
Knight equalised in the 57th minute with his fourth goal of the season after Siriki Dembele had fired Oxford ahead in the 15th minute.
Harris said: “I’m delighted for Ben. He’s still maturing, he’s maturing every day in training and obviously he’s still young – he just gets better. He’s hugely important to the way we play.
“We have to remember that in November last year he wasn’t even in the team, and a year ago he’d have snapped at that chance he got for the goal and probably put it near the corner flag. But he showed great composure with the finish.”
Cambridge had the better of the second half after Oxford impressed in the first, but they were indebted to a fine one-handed save by Jake Eastwood from Tyler Goodrham’s header near the end to come away with a draw.
Harris added: “It was a great save from Jake. We were throwing bodies on the line there as well. When you are away to a good team you need your keeper to be at their best.
“I would have settled for a point before the game, absolutely, and after being a goal down, yet in the second half I thought we could go on to win it. But ultimately it’s a good point for us.”
Oxford head coach Aaron Ramsey was frustrated not to have registered a third straight win.
He said: “I’m disappointed – you want to win your home games. But it shows there are no easy games in this division. We kept trying to find a way to win the game, but came up short in the end.
“It’s been a decent start for us, though. Yes, there are plenty of things we can work on, which we will use in this international break to do that. So we’ll assess this game and be better for when the games come thick and fast after the international break.
“In the first half we were causing them problems with our pocket runs and our switch of play, attacking towards our own fans, and in the second half they tweaked a few bits and tried to frustrate us by forcing us wide a lot.
“We created one or two chances, maybe, where their keeper’s pulled off a good save, but ultimately we drew the game and we’re disappointed with that. But that’s the way it is, and we have to come up with solutions to that.
“The boys kept fighting to the end, so I can’t fault their effort. We had some moments in the second half but couldn’t really sustain that.”
Ramsey was delighted with Dembele’s performance again after the winger scored for the second week running.
He said: “Dem’s a really important player for us – he’s one of those players who can make things happen and get a lot of assists, he’s very influential in games. What impresses me most is what he does off the ball and his reaction to losing the ball and tracking back.”