KARL Robinson said himself that he knew how the night would end when Cameron Brannagan stepped up to take his 93rd-minute free-kick.

Ed McGinty might have had an inkling too, had he known the game would go straight to penalties.

The goalkeeper revealed afterwards that he did not realise there was no extra time in the Carabao Cup first-round tie, which can only have added to a surreal debut.

Saturday showed how football often writes the perfect script and we saw that against Swansea City, as McGinty recovered from his seventh-minute handball to produce the penalty save that put Oxford United on course for victory.

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It was a tale we have seen many times before, and not just because of the goalkeeper’s roller coaster debut.

The pattern of the game was eerily similar to United’s clash with Millwall, another Sky Bet Championship side, in the second round of this competition three years ago.

Then, like last night, the visitors were on course for a routine 2-0 win after a poor U’s performance, only for Robinson’s side to score twice late on and triumph on penalties – they even found the net with a deflected strike that evening, too, through Mark Sykes.

Throw in another 93rd-minute goal, United’s second in four days, plus a third successive shoot-out win at this stage of the competition and it looks like it was meant to be.

Early-round cup games are always interesting due to the experimental nature of the line-ups and last night was no different.

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Each teams’ starting XI included only five players who were first-team regulars last season, but Swansea hid it well in the opening 45 minutes.

The visitors took control after capitalising on McGinty’s mistake to go 1-0 up and they looked much slicker, with the 2-0 half-time score line flattering United more than their opponents.

Swansea hurt the U's on both wings as they targeted James Golding’s inexperience as a right back, although it must be said that the 18-year-old impressed going forward.

The U’s struggled to threaten consistently with Jodi Jones still getting up to speed, Billy Bodin having little joy through the middle and Tyler Goodrham shackled after his dream league debut on Saturday.

Robinson turned to the big guns as Brannagan, Stuart Findlay, Marcus Browne and Marcus McGuane came on within 15 minutes of the restart.

It was noticeable how secure United looked with Findlay and Ciaron Brown, who delivered another dogged defensive display, on the left side of defence.

READ MORE: Ed McGinty reflects on 'strange' Oxford United debut

Brannagan, McGuane and Browne all added impetus as the U’s pressed higher and went man for man against a team who likes to play out from the back, to their cost.

Goodrham got better and better against the toughest opposition he has faced in his career - a very good sign - while Slavi Spasov made an impact in his short time up front.

Ultimately, Swansea will feel robbed after bossing the early stages of the game, particularly with United scoring two fortunate goals.

But it was encouraging to see the U’s finish strongly again and they made the most of their good spell, before being reliable as ever from 12 yards.

There are some exciting potential second-round opponents in tonight’s draw, although United could just as likely get a ‘meh’ tie.

Whatever happens, it creates a busy schedule of nine games in 29 days between Saturday’s match against Cambridge and the visit of Burton Albion on September 3. The season is most definitely up and running.