By Ty Jenner
The Dons bow out of the Carabao Cup at the 4th Round stage to Leicester City. Goals from Tielemans, Perez and Vardy see out a comfortable 3-0 victory at Stadium MK for the visitors.
First half
Leicester controlled early proceedings with Perez having the first chance 3 minutes in, but his attempt at goal ended up going over the crossbar. Moments later former Dons loanee Harvey Barnes puts in a teasing ball into the box but the ball just trickled away from Vardy’s trailing leg into the grateful grasp of the Jamie Cumming.
The Dons had a little spell themselves when Eisa and Grigg tried to combine through the Leicester rearguard, but the final ball to Grigg just escaped his grasp before he could latch an effort at goal. But with 17 minutes gone, the deadlock was broken from the visitors as Barnes found Jamie Vardy at the near post, he flicked an effort towards goal, but Cumming parried the ball away straight to Tielemans who had the goal at his mercy to slam home. Just short of half hour, Daniel Harvie pounced on a mistake from Faes, but he apppeared to have been fouled by the Leicester defender when he ran through on goal. The referee waved away the home calls, and from the resulting attack, the Foxes doubled their lead through Ayoze Perez’s cool finish past Cumming.
The Dons did try to respond once again as Jules went on a surging run through the Leicester defence but the visitors manage to snuff out the danger eventually. Moments later Mo Eisa danced around the Leicester penalty area and conjured a decent opening, but Faes managed to put him off balance to prevent the striker testing Ward.
HALF TIME – MK Dons 0-2 Leicester City
The foxes came out with purpose once again and it took just 4 minutes for them to extend their lead through Jamie Vardy’s headed goal. From then on, it was relatively comfortable for the visitors.
Perez had a good chance a moment after the goal, but his header looped over the crossbar from close range. Half way through the second half, Vardy had another chance from the edge of the box, but Zak Jules done very well to block his effort. Leicester introduced Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho 70 minutes gone which further laboured the game as they continued to control possession.
The final opportunity from MK Dons came from Grigg as Matt Dennis’ flicked header from Devoy’s cross fell perfectly to the striker but his effort was smothered away from Ward. Just shy of 90, Iheanacho then had a decent chance to make it 4, but Warren O’Hora done well to block his effort at goal.
FULL TIME – MK Dons 0-3 Leicester City
The Dons bowed out at the 4th round stage, with 0 shots on target. It may have been Premier League opposition, but it was pretty uninspiring from the Dons. Zak Jules played well in parts and was the only one really trying to force the issue, but the rest of them lacked any real quality throughout the entire 90.
It was a decent cup run, matching their best run from the 2014/15 season, but now their attention turns to League One for the remainder of the season as they host fellow bottom 4 side Forest Green Rovers on Boxing Day.
