MK Dons manager Mike Williamson said his side made it hard for themselves despite a 2-1 victory at Swindon which helped lift them up to fifth place in the table.
Stephen Wearne marked his full league debut with two goals in the space of the first eight minutes and the Dons held that lead until Charlie Austin’s 89th-minute strike threatened a late comeback.
Williamson said: “It was a fantastic start, but it also changes the dynamics of the game and allows the opposition to have a little bit of freedom to go forward because they need to get back in the game.
“I think what we can take from the game is that some of our offensive play was very good.
“And our last-ditch defending was excellent – you can see the spirit and every player on the pitch threw their body in front of the ball.
“But there were big parts of the game I think we’re quite far off and we made it hard for ourselves, and obviously it turns into chaotic in the last few minutes.
“I’m incredibly proud of the boys and the fact that we’ve got good players won that game today.”
Wearne opened the scoring with just four minutes on the clock after some calamitous Swindon defending.
Goalkeeper Jack Bycroft and Conor McCarthy left the ball for each other, allowing Kyran Lofthouse to nip in and tee up Wearne for a simple finish.
It was 2-0 four minutes later as Wearne swept home at the far post following a brilliant centre across the six-yard box.
The Dons pushed for a third goal and Daniel Kemp forced a good save out of Bycroft nine minutes into the second half with a stinging 25-yard shot.
Charlie Austin finished emphatically with one minute remaining to give Swindon hope of a late comeback, but the visitors were able to see out the win.
Interim Swindon manager Gavin Gunning said: WAfter eight minutes, your whole gameplan went out the window which is the worst part of it.
“The keeper should have come and the centre-half should clear it one is so it’s unfortunate.
“Then the second one was a lapse in concentration at the back stick, switching off, watching them score.
“You do the prep, you get videos and you say this is what we’re trying to do, but we were 2-0 down before we know it and you have to adapt and be more compact.
“They are a possession-based team you’re always going to struggle if you go 2-0 down.
“It was an average performance, a completely different level of performance than what we’ve been showing the last four games. It is frustrating and the two early goals obviously kill you.”
Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid
NBA superstar Luka Doncic has backed Kylian Mbappe to "figure it out" after his underwhelming start to life at Real Madrid.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 16 games for Madrid in all competitions since joining as a free agent following the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
He has gone four matches without a goal – a run that includes losses to Barcelona and Milan – and has been left out of France's latest squad.
However, Dallas Mavericks guard Doncic – a Real Madrid supporter due to his previous ties with the sports club – can see Mbappe turning things around.
"Obviously [their season] could be better," Doncic told Managing Madrid after the Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
"But when you get a guy like Mbappe, it takes some time to get used to it. We'll figure it out."
Mbappe has scored six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances for Madrid but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.
The forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes for PSG in his last of seven seasons in Paris.
Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out in the league to return to winning ways but still trail leaders Barcelona by six points.
Asked about his connections with Madrid, former Los Blancos basketball player Doncic said: "I follow Real Madrid every time.
"I grew up there. They taught me everything, so it's a part of my life. You can call it a secondary home.
"I learned a lot of stuff there and, especially, they gave me a way to be here right now [in Dallas]. I always appreciate that 100%."
Madrid return to action after the international break with a trip to Leganes on Sunday.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
