MK Dons out of Carabao Cup after conceding four on trip to Norwich City

MK Dons are out of the Carabao Cup as they were swept aside by Norwich City, who were 4-1 winners at Carrow Road.

Strikes by Mo Toure, Anis Ben Slimane and Ben Chrisene gave Norwich a 3-0 lead, with the Canaries having taken the lead within the opening minute of the contest.

The visitors had rallied in the early stages of the second half, with Ryan Wintle scoring moments after Nathaniel Mendez-Laing had seen a penalty saved.

But Andre Brooks grabbed a fourth to take the game out of the Dons’ reach, with Norwich booking the place in the Second Round of the Carabao Cup.

The first competitive game of the season saw the Dons select a strong line-up, including debuts for Charlie Goode, Cohen Bramall and Wintle, along with a second debut for Sam Nombe.

But a strong Norwich 11 would seize the game near immediately, as they opened the scoring in the opening minute. Goode’s pass forward was intercepted and Kenny McLean was able to work it for Toure. The Australian international duly charged forward and thumped a strike home.

The start to the day duly got worse for the Dons when they fell 2-0 down with seven minutes on the clock. Bramall was dispossessed and the ball would fall for Toure. The score of Norwich’s first goal laid the ball off for Ben Slimane, who jockeyed the ball away from Goode before beating Craig MacGillivray.

A third Norwich goal looked likelier over the course of the first half, with former Dons defender Harry Darling thumping an effort over and Toure flicking a strike just wide when seemingly on to grab his second.

The Championship side duly made it 3-0 just before half-time. Norwich worked the ball for Brooks, who saw a shot deflected in. Replays later proved the crucial deflection had come off Chrisene, who duly took the credit for the goal.

Toure saw a strike denied by MacGillivray in the opening minutes of the second half as Norwich aimed to give their fans even further delight.

But MK Dons then had their first major flurry of activity going forward and would eventually get themselves on the scoreboard. The referee gave MK Dons a penalty ten minutes after the break when Callum Paterson was brought down, but Vladan Kovacevic in the Norwich goal saved Mendez-Laing’s penalty.

From the corner given after that, however, the ball fell for Wintle, who hit a drive that found the back of the net via a deflection.

Less than three minutes after making it 3-1, however, the Dons conceded another goal. A loose pass by Paterson was picked off by Brooks, who duly charged forward before firing home to grab another strike for Norwich.

Norwich could’ve made things worse for the Dons after that, with Jacob Wright hitting the crossbar before MacGillivray denied McLean, but the hosts had already done enough to take victory on a sunny day in Norfolk.

MK Dons will look for better in their league opener next weekend, when they travel to play Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium.