Milton Keynes Dons 1-2 Leeds United
- Published
Ten-man MK Dons suffered a fourth straight loss for the first time since December 2009 as Leeds moved into 10th.
The hosts dominated the opening half an hour with Rob Hall, Carl Baker and Josh Murphy all shooting wide.
But it was Leeds who went ahead when Baker brought down Charlie Taylor with Chris Wood converting the penalty, before Taylor made it 2-0.
Samir Carruthers was shown a late red card for a tackle on Stuart Dallas after Simon Church had cut the lead.
Hall had the first notable chance for MK Dons when he smartly beat two Leeds defenders before striking off target.
Murphy, on loan from Norwich, then had two carbon-copy chances for the Dons when he cut inside from the left-wing and curled just wide when attempting to find the far corner of Marco Silvestri's net, before the Leeds goalkeeper denied the same player at the near post.
Karl Robinson's side then had their best chance to go ahead as Hall's shot was tipped onto the woodwork by Silverstri but Sam Gallagher somehow smashed the rebound over.
That miss was to prove costly as Leeds immediately went down the other end and won a penalty when Baker clumsily brought down Taylor and Wood sent David Martin the wrong way to score his fourth goal in six games.
Taylor's run and shot then doubled Leeds' advantage, before MK Dons saw their own appeals for a penalty for handball waved away by referee David Webb.
A low-key second half was sparked into life when Church converted the dangerous Murphy's cross for his first goal for the club.
Despite Carruthers' dismissal, it was the hosts who pushed for an equaliser at the end, but Leeds held firm for their second Championship win of the season.
MK Dons manager Karl Robinson: "The refereeing was atrocious.
"We've played here and we've been the better team. Someone has to say something.
"He should have to tell you why he sent Samir Carruthers off. Then two and-a-half minutes later (Luke) Murphy has a scissor challenge on the 'D', and there's no booking, and it's his eighth challenge of the game.
"We ask for consistency, and integrity, which they give us all the time, but the performance was way below par today I think from the referee."
Leeds United manager Uwe Rosler: "I felt the way we managed the first 15-20 minutes of the second half was very impressive. We went for another goal and we could have easily scored another goal in that period.
"Then the panic button came into play, even with a man more.
"All credit to MK Dons, they made some tactical changes, they put Carl Baker in the right-back position, and he put ball after ball in our box. We found it difficult to get the ball down and play, and use our man advantage.
"You need to find a way to win, even when you're not playing over 90 minutes prettily, and that's what we did."
- Published20 June 2016
- Published7 June 2019