MK Dons take big step towards promotion after beating Crewe

MK Dons took a big step towards confirming automatic promotion as they beat Crewe Alexandra 3-1.

Curtis Nelson, Marvin Ekpiteta and Alex Gilbey scored the goals to win the day for Paul Warne’s side, with Crewe’s Adrien Thibaut scoring a late consolation for the home side.

Victory in Cheshire means that MK Dons are close to confirming promotion to League One after a 3 season spell in the fourth tier. One more win will confirm the Dons’ promotion, though the Dons’ goal difference advantage over 4th place Salford City means a draw from the final 2 games of the season could also theoretically be enough.

Results elsewhere mean Salford are now the only team that can stop the Dons from finishing in the top 3, with Notts County and Swindon both dropping points on Saturday. Paul Warne’s side also still have dreams of winning the League 2 title, with the Dons now just 2 points behind leaders Bromley.

MK Dons settled quicker into the game and they took the lead after 12 minutes. Liam Kelly’s corner found Nelson, whose header crept beyond Crewe keeper Ian Lawlor to put the Dons ahead.

Near the end of the first half, MK Dons had a number of opportunities to double their lead. Lawlor made good saves to deny Ekpiteta and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, while in-between these two chances, Callum Paterson’s header from a corner clipped the post.

In the final stages of the half, MK Dons made it 2-0. Mendez-Laing’s cross found Ekpiteta, who glanced a header beyond the reach of Lawlor.

Crewe’s performance after the break was brighter, with Thibaut hitting the post and Josh March denied by Craig MacGillivray. March also felt he should’ve been given a penalty but the referee let a challenge on him by Ekpiteta go unpunished.

With just under 25 minutes of the 90 remaining, MK Dons would grab their third. Crewe lost possession in their own half, and Ekpiteta set up Dons captain Gilbey, who in turn duly guided home a strike that flew beyond Lawlor.

Crewe did grab a goal in the final 15 minutes as Thibaut was just able to prod the ball past MacGillivray when he was picked out by a free-kick, but it wasn’t enough to spark Crewe into life on the day that their hopes of a late push for the play-offs was officially ended.

That opened the door for MK Dons to make it back-to-back wins, with Warne’s side now turning their attention to next weekend’s meeting with Tranmere Rovers and with it the opportunity to confirm promotion to the 3rd tier for next season.