Elijah Adebayo struck in the fourth minute of injury time to force MK Dons to settle for a point on their trip to Swindon. The Dons had gone ahead through Joe Walsh’s early goal but were made to pay for numerous missed chances when Adebayo converted from Matt Taylor’s long ball.
MK Dons Drop Points Through Elijah Adebayo Goal
Early Goal Doesn’t Quite Settle the Nerves
MK Dons lined up in their usual 5-3-2 formation, with Jordan Moore-Taylor moving to the centre of midfield, allowing Baily Cargill to fill the vacant centre-back spot. Cargill was joined by Joe Walsh and George Williams in the centre, with Callum Brittain and Dean Lewington providing the width as wing-backs. Moore-Taylor was accompanied by Alex Gilbey and Jordan Houghton, who had Kieran Agard and Robbie Simpson ahead of them in attack.
With a lot of attacking threat on the pitch, it must have surprised everyone, including the man himself, when Walsh put the visitors in front after just five minutes. Dean Lewington swung in a corner and Walsh met it perfectly on the volley to smash past Lawrence Vigouroux.
The early goal didn’t follow the old cliche of settling the nerves, though, as Swindon slowly came into the game and were comfortably on top for the whole of the first half. They had a number of excellent chances, created mostly by exploiting the space left by the wing-backs when they went on the attack. If Brittain or Lewington couldn’t get back in time, it meant that either Williams or Cargill had to come out of position to close the space, leaving just Walsh in the middle to deal with the Swindon attackers. He was helped on most occasions by Houghton and Moore-Taylor tracking back, but Swindon looked particularly dangerous when breaking fast as the Dons would be stretched at the back.
Despite a few scares, the closest the Robins came to actually taking the lead was when Marc Richards could only poke a cross wide of Nicholls’ goal when he was completely alone in the six-yard box.
Second Half Much Better Despite Conceding
The visitors seemed to settle for their lead in the first half and sat off Swindon. The second half was the complete opposite, though, with the Dons forcing Vigouroux into a number of top-quality saves early on. Even prior to their testing of the Chilean stopper, Jordan Houghton was desperately unlucky to see his 30-yard wonder strike crash off the bar.
The Dons looked threatening on the counter-attack, with Gilbey striding forward regularly from his advanced midfield position. Brittain and Lewington would join the attack to support Gilbey on the wings, but the Dons’ crossing game is one that is confusing some fans as they lack the aerial threat with the strikers that have played so far this season. If Osman Sow is given a chance in the team, this could soon change.
With Paul Tisdale’s side committing more men forward, it did leave them vulnerable if Swindon re-gained possession, and there a number of occasions where the hosts won free-kicks on the edge of the area that could have been dangerous, especially when someone with the quality of Matt Taylor is standing over them.
Although it wasn’t a free-kick, it was a delivery of Taylor’s quality that gave Swindon their equaliser. The veteran midfielder collected the ball just inside his own half and launched the ball into the box towards Ellis Iandolo, who won his header against three Dons defenders before Elijah Adebayo smashed home the loose ball.
Fans Left Confused by One Managerial Decision
A lot of MK Dons fans were left confused by Paul Tisdale’s decision to not make any substitutes in the game, despite the attack looking exhausted and the fact the Dons were clinging onto a slim lead, so could have wasted some time.
Tisdale said that he didn’t want any substitutions to have a negative effect on the game, telling iFollow MK Dons: “Sometimes you want the 11 on the pitch to just guts it out. If you make a change, something is going to change – it might be for better or for worse. Sometimes you play that card as a manager and the 11 on the pitch today came so close.”
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