Goal in each half helps MK Dons overcome Salford City

A goal in injury time at the end of each half helped MK Dons beat Salford City 2-0 at Stadium MK.

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing scored a penalty in added time at the end of the first half, as he struck from a penalty kick strongly disputed by the visitors, before Callum Paterson added a second in stoppage time at the end of the second half.

A 2-0 win saw MK Dons grab a first win in three League Two outings, with the result seeing them climb above their guests and others to move up to third in the table.

As the Dons played their first home league game in 4 weeks, the team were hoping to give boss Paul Warne something to celebrate as he took charge of his 450th game as a manager.

Their opponents were Salford, who began the day directly above MK Dons in the table with the Ammies in 4th and the Dons in 4th. The game also brought a return to Stadium MK for Salford boss Karl Robinson, who managed MK Dons between 2010 and 2016.

MK Dons had the first major opportunity, as an angled drive from Rushian Hepburn-Murphy had to be denied at the near post by Matt Young inside the opening minute.

Robinson was then very nearly celebrating an early goal. In the sixth minute, Craig MacGillivray could only spill a strike from Josh Austerfield, and the ball seemingly fell in the right spot for Kelly N’Mai to tap in, but in the Salford man contrived to strike the bar from inside the six yard box.

Kallum Cesay would then fire wide for the visitors, as the visitors looked likelier to score in a tight first half.

MK Dons’ best opportunity seemed to be a moment where they were inches away from more, as Paterson was inches away from connecting with Rushian Hepburn-Murphy’s cross when any touch would’ve likely resulted in a goal.

Hepburn-Murphy would then limp off with an injury, with the game seemingly set to enter the half-time break scoreless.

But a major incident that changed the flow of the game then happened in first half stoppage time. Young had claimed a cross from the MK Dons right, but the referee had deemed an off-the-ball challenge behind Young on Jack Sanders by Daniel Udoh to be just cause to award the hosts a penalty, much to Salford’s disbelief.

Mendez-Laing stepped up, and he would duly roll a penalty into the bottom corner to score for the second game in a row.

Salford began on the front foot as they chased a response, with Kadeem Harris having a shot deflected wide before Udoh had a shot denied at point-blank range by MacGillivray in the scramble from the resulting corner.

Much of the second half would end up being played in the Dons’ half, as Salford had possession and kept probing the Dons’ backline in search of a way through.

As it was, however, chances proved to be at a premium for the visitors, as they struggled to create a lot of clear-cut chances to work MacGillivray.

A breakthrough nearly came from a set-piece, as MacGillivray had to tip wide a low free-kick from Salford’s Jorge Grant.

Harris would later see a strike blocked and run through to MacGillivray’s arms, as the visitors began to have greater problems in breaking MK Dons down.

There would then be a flurry of chances for the hosts to wrap things up, as Gilbey had a strike deflected wide before substitute Kane Thompson-Sommers had a shot saved by Young.

Already irate at one penalty call that went against them, Salford were then further annoyed when they felt Harris had been fouled by Aaron Nemane in the final minute of stoppage time, but the referee deemed it to be a fair challenge.

Salford were left in further dismay when seconds later, MK Dons struck to confirm their win. A through-pass down the left hand side released Alex Gilbey, and the Dons’ captain duly laid the ball off for Paterson to dink it over Young to make it 2-0.

Victory means the Dons have now picked up 3 home league wins in a row, as Warne got a win to mark the occasion of his 450th game as a manager and the team look to continue to mount a promotion push.

MK Dons: MacGillivray – Offord, Ekpiteta, Sanders – Nemane, Kelly (Crowley 77), Gilbey, Tomlinson (Mellish 77) – Mendez-Laing (Thompson-Sommers 60), Paterson, Hepburn-Murphy (Collar 43)

Subs not used: Trueman, Leko, Maguire

Goal: Mendez-Laing (pen 45+1), Paterson (90+4)

Booked: Sanders, Paterson

Salford: Young – Turton (Siri 90), Oluwo, Cooper (Grant 66) – Harris, Cesay (Longelo 80), Butcher, Austerfield (Stockton 66), Garbutt – Udoh, N’Mai

Subs not used: Howard, Curran-Nicholls, Butt

Booked: Oluwo