Late Oxford equaliser denies MK Dons victory in League One season opener

MK Dons missed out on a win in their League One season opener after a late equaliser saw them drew 2-2 at Oxford United.

Mark Harris had given Oxford the lead, but MK Dons came from behind to lead through two goals in five minutes scored by Charlie Goode and Aaron Collins.

It looked as though Paul Warne’s side were close to taking the win, but a 95th minute equaliser by Ciaron Brown saw Oxford instead swipe a share of the points and meant that the Dons had to settle for a draw in their season opener.

A sunny opening day in Oxford saw the Dons begin the campaign against a side who’d been two tiers above them last season, with the League One season opener bringing together a side relegated from last season’s Championship and one promoted from League Two.

Oxford opened the scoring after 20 minutes. Siriki Dembele’s shot was deflected off Marvin Ekipteta, which Oxford felt had bounced off the defender’s arm, but the bouncing ball ended up falling kindly for Harris, who beat Craig MacGillivray one-on-one.

Nine minutes later, however, MK Dons found themselves level. The visitors had two initial shots blocked from a corner, but the visitors kept up their attack and from Dan Barlaser’s cross, a looping header by Goode from a tight angle eluded former Dons keeper Jamie Cumming and went in despite Sam Long’s attempts to keep it out.

This duly saw the Dons go on the attack and they almost completed the turnaround when Cumming denied Ryan Wintle’s strike from just outside the box.

But with 34 minutes on the clock, MK Dons went in front. Dembele’s pass out from the back went awry, and Wintle’s cross picked out Collins at the back post, who duly headed home.

MK Dons duly had a number of chances in the opening stages of the second half, with Collins heading one effort wide and then striking the post from close range, while Cumming also made a save to deny Sam Nombe.

Having managed to avoid conceding a third, Oxford began to give MK Dons problems, with Harris having a shot deflected just wide and Cameron Brannigan seeing an effort go over.

The Dons then had a moment when they could’ve made things sure, as in the latter stages, substitute Nathaniel Mendez-Laing burst through to seemingly be one-on-one with Cumming, only to try to square it instead and the chance to go missing.

With time running out, Oxford threw men forward and they would land a breakthrough in the 5th minute of stoppage time. Gatlin O’Donkor got just enough space down the Oxford left, and his cross fell for Brown, who fired past MacGillivray.

MK Dons duly had to settle for a point, with the Dons now turning attention to a pair of tricky looking home games against Huddersfield and Leicester.