Ciaron Brown and Przemyslaw Placheta both scored for the second game in a row to help Gary Rowett make it two wins from two as new Oxford boss with a 2-0 victory over Championship bottom club Plymouth.
This was an eleventh defeat in thirteen games on the road for Argyle's under-pressure manager Wayne Rooney.
Northern Ireland international Brown met Tyler Goodrham's cross with a diving header to put the U's ahead in the 14th minute.
Both teams hit the crossbar before Placheta doubled the lead with a fantastic individual goal in the 61st minute, leaving Brendan Galloway behind and turning on himself in the area to fire low past keeper Conor Hazard.
Rowett had an unchanged starting line-up following the 3-2 Boxing Day win over Cardiff, while Rooney brought back four players from the Pilgrims' 4-0 thrashing at Bristol City, including Hazard for his first game since August.
Placheta saw a lot of ball on the right in the opening minutes and forced the corner, allowing Brown to break the deadlock.
That brought the familiar chants of “you're going to be sacked tomorrow morning” not only from the home fans, but also from many in the away section, towards ex-Manchester United and England striker Rooney.
It took a smart save from Hazard with his foot to keep out Mark Harris' shot after an expert clearance from Ruben Rodrigues.
Argyle forced their first corner in the 27th minute, and their first effort on target when Morgan Whittaker met Adam Randell's far post with a running header which Jamie Cumming saved under his crossbar.
A corner at the other end from Goodrham caused chaos in the Plymouth penalty area moments later, without a defender attacking.
The Devon side came close just after the half hour mark when U's midfielder Will Vaulks deflected Rami Al Hajj's shot from fourteen yards onto the crossbar.
Cumming then saved Bali Mumba's low drive through his first post.
However, Oxford stayed on top and Cameron Brannagan produced a flowing move that ended with Hazard saving Placheta's angled drive.
United defender Greg Leigh also hit the crossbar with a header just before half-time, from another Goodrham corner.
Plymouth pushed their way into some good attacking positions in the second half but had no one to pull the trigger with a threatening shot, and Placheta's stunning second goal knocked things out.
It is only the second time this season that Oxford have recorded consecutive wins to move three points above the relegation places.
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