A piledriver from Jordan Houghton secured a point for MK Dons in their away game against Mansfield Town, meaning that the two teams remain the joint best defences in the league. The Stags had initially taken the lead through an equally good strike from Jacob Mellis on 17 minutes, but it only took seven minutes for Houghton to level the scores.
Jordan Houghton Secures Point For MK Dons
Edgy Openings
Both teams provided an energetic start to the game and there were some nervy moments for Bobby Olejnik in the Mansfield goal. Firstly, he spilt a weak deflection into the path of Kieran Agard, but the forward took too long to make his mind up on what to do, and his eventual pass to Chuks Aneke resulted in his strike partner’s shot being saved. Olejnik then failed to deal with a low cross from Rhys Healey, but this time Agard failed to connect with the delivery.
They were made to pay for their missed opportunities after seven minutes when the hosts finally made the most of their positive start to the game. A poor free-kick from Mal Benning was met with an equally poor clearance from Joe Walsh, and after the ball bounced once, Jacob Mellis lashed home on the half-volley to give the Stags a lead they probably deserved on the balance of play.
It didn’t take long for the Dons to find their feet again and grab the equaliser, though. Aneke did well to bring down a flick-on from George Williams and then played it forward to Alex Gilbey. Gilbey turned back and laid it into Jordan Houghton who, after advancing forward a few yards, unleashed a stunning effort that flew into the net from 25 yards, securing his first goal after arriving from Chelsea.
The biggest chance the Dons had to take the lead in this game came just before half-time. Mellis almost made everybody forget about his stunning opener with a severe lapse in concentration that allowed Aneke to steal the ball off him in the edge of the area. The forward then spun around Mellis with a neat turn before somehow hitting the post when one-on-one with Olejnik.
Defences on Top
The low scoring of this game was hardly surprising considering these were the joint-best defences in the league meeting each other. It was also no surprise, then, that there were no goals in the second half and instead it was all about the defences.
The Dons’ second-half back three of George Williams, Joe Walsh and Baily Cargill (Jordan Moore-Taylor went off injured at half-time) were excellent at nullifying any Mansfield attacks at the earliest opportunity, aided well by wingbacks Callum Brittain and Dean Lewington.
On the few occasions that the visitors did come forward, Mansfield were able to emulate the form of their opponents’ defence and were also thankful for two strong saves from Olejnik towards the end. Firstly, he blocked Aneke’s shot after a neat one-two with Gilbey and he then got a strong hand to Rhys Healey’s low effort before smothering the ball.
Man of the Match
Not just for his exquisite goal, Jordan Houghton wins this, hands down, for his overall performance. It was the most complete performance from a Dons midfielder since the days of Darren Potter a few seasons ago.
In a midfield that has been guilty of being far too attacking this season (this game was no exception), Houghton was the anchor between the defence and the midfield that did the dirty work. His passes out from the back were the main outlet for any counter attacks that the Dons went on and his ability to track back and muscle players off the ball was shown in abundance today.
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