Adelakun's flick downs Dons as Salford do the double

Hakeeb Adelakun’s first-half flick earned Salford City a narrow 1-0 win at Stadium MK on Saturday as MK Dons’ patchy form continued.

In a poor game which lacked quality from both sides, the Salford striker nipped in ahead of keeper Tom McGill to convert Liam Shephard’s cross after 34 minutes as Karl Robinson did the double over his former club for the first time.

For Dons, their fourth defeat in six games sees them slump to 12th in League Two ahead of a trio of away days, beginning with a trip to Mike Williamson’s Carlisle United next Saturday.

After winning their first game in four, Scott Lindsey stuck with the same team which beat Chesterfield on New Year's Day. Callum Hendry and Ellis Harrison led the line, while Joe White kept his place despite limping out of the game in Derbyshire. Callum Tripp returned on the bench ahead of Connor Lemonheigh-Evans, who needed stitches in two different wounds at the SMH Group Stadium during his 25 minute cameo.

Karl Robinson's side made five changes despite a five-game winning streak heading into the clash on his old stomping ground, and for much of the opening half-an-hour, it was the home side who had the better of the chances.

Joe Tomlinson, Alex Gilbey and Callum Hendry had good sights of Matthew Young's goal - the latter in particular squandering the best chance of the half when he found himself unchallenged on the edge of goal, but fired tamely at the keeper.

Salford's Tyrese Fornah had a senstional game in the reverse fixture in August and threatened to pull the strings again for the Ammies, but fired harmlessly over the bar, which was as close as the visitors would come until a somewhat fortunate opener on 34 minutes. Liam Shephard's cross from the right appeared to be easy for Tom McGill, but Hakeeb Adelakun nipped in just ahead of the Dons keeper, getting just enough on it to divert it past him and into the net.

From the relative control Dons had until that point, the hosts became distinctly negative in the run-up to half-time, opting too often to revert back to McGill rather than taking on the attacking option, drawing a handful of boos at the half-time whistle.

The second-half would be a frustrating affair for Dons for plenty of reasons, not least their lack of goal-scoring opportunities. They had half-chances, periods of pressure around the penalty area but never forcefully tested keeper Young.

Referee Matthew Russell would come in for some stick from the home support as he gave soft free-kicks Salford's way, but waved away two decent penalty appeals when substitute Brooklyn Ilunga and then Alex Gilbey were downed in short order.

Ultimately it would be Robinson who celebrated on the field at full-time as he completed the double over his former club for the first time since leaving in 2016, with the result seeing Dons drop to 12th in League Two ahead of three consecutive away games, starting at Carlisle United.

Referee: Matthew Russell

Attendance: 5,934 (117)

MK Dons: McGill, Offord, Lawrence, Sherring, Nemane (Ilunga 69), Tomlinson, Kelly (Hogan 69), White, Hendry, Gilbey, Hogan

Subs not used: MacGillivray, Williams, Waller, Carroll, Tripp

Salford City: Young, Berkoe (Taylor 83), Ashley, Fornah, Watson (Lund 75), Stockton (Kouassi 82), Tilt, Mnoga (Taylor 82), Garbutt, Adelakun (McAleny 90), Shephard

Subs not used: Jones, Edwards, Negru

Booked: Ashley, Tilt, Shephard