MK Dons 1 – 5 Crawley

Crawley blew MK Dons away for the second time in a matter of days as a 5-1 victory at Stadium MK – and an 8-1 win on mixture – took them to the Sky Guess League Two play-off ultimate.

Scott Lindsey’s facet had established a 3-0 first-leg lead in West Sussex on Tuesday – and that was prolonged to 5-0 inside the first half-hour in Buckinghamshire, courtesy of Jay Williams and Danilo Orsi.

Max Dean volleyed in to tug one again for the hosts, however the two-goal cushion on the night time was restored by Orsi after slick build-up between Klaidi Lolos and Liam Kelly.

Dean noticed a penalty well-saved by Reds goalkeeper Corey Addai, earlier than Jack Roles got here off the bench to smash in a fourth, shortly after he had crashed a shot off the left-hand publish.

Orsi then turned in a Ronan Darcy cross in second-half stoppage time to finish his hat-trick and spherical off a completely one-sided affair.

Crawley will face Crewe at Wembley on Sunday Could 19 – dwell on Sky Sports activities Soccer – with a spot in Sky Guess League One at stake.

How Crawley ripped MK Dons to shreds

Solely as soon as has a deficit of three objectives or extra been efficiently overturned in play-off historical past – when Sheffield Wednesday beat Peterborough final season – so MK Dons boss Mike Williamson known as for “relentless” attacking from his gamers to show the sport of their favour.

Three minutes in, the issue of their process was cranked up a notch when Williams stormed ahead from midfield, pinched the ball from Alex Gilbey and squeezed a shot into the underside left nook beneath stress.

MK loved spells of possession after that, however they had been passive with it and so it got here as little shock when Crawley – who seemed like the house facet – established a 5-0 mixture lead with Orsi profiting from Dan Harvie’s misjudging of a bounce and firing in his twenty second objective in all competitions this season.

In first-half stoppage-time, Dean volleyed in to halve the deficit on the night time after a lapse in focus on the again, although there have been query marks over whether or not he ought to have even been nonetheless on the pitch after showing to stamp on Williams earlier within the half.

Two minutes into the second half, Crawley had restored their two-goal cushion on the night time in type, with Klaidi Lolos threading the ball to Liam Kelly, who squared for Orsi to nonchalantly roll in his second of the night time. The shouts of ‘ole’ may very well be heard from the away part by this level.

MK then gained a penalty when Kelly was adjudged to have dealt with Ellis Harrison’s cross, however Dean was unable to beat Corey Addai, who dived to his proper to bat the spot-kick away.

Because the hosts’ vitality started to wane, Roles tried to catch them out with an early shot that hit the publish after the slightest of touches from goalkeeper Filip Marschall, however he did handle to place one away shortly afterwards, taking cost after Orsi had held the ball up.

And it received even higher for the ruthless Reds, as Orsi bundled in to finish his treble on an extremely memorable night time.

Evaluation: Sensible Orsi leads Reds to Wembley for the primary time

Sky Sports activities’ Dan Lengthy:

“Danilo Orsi barely received a sniff within the first leg at Broadfield earlier this week, with simply two photographs and 19 touches all through the whole thing of the sport. However the most effective strikers pop up when they’re wanted most – and that is precisely what he did this time round.

“He only managed 23 touches at Stadium MK, but that was all he needed for his first hat-trick since the one he scored for Harrogate in the EFL Trophy back in August 2021. He was composed with the first, as cool as you like with the second and inventive with the third, which added the gloss late on.

“The 28-year-old has thrived under Scott Lindsey this term and will be one of the key components if they are to succeed at Wembley next weekend.”

Williamson: MK Dons ran out of steam

MK Dons head coach Mike Williamson instructed Sky Sports activities:

“We just ran out of steam in terms of the season, the night. I feel for the boys in there because it’s a real, real tough one to take. I’ve had some tough days in football and I think this is up there with the hardest time and defeat.

“These boys have given every little thing; I do not take a look at it on a one-off event, I take a look at it over the course since we have are available and so they’ve run their socks off. Even at this time after we misplaced our composure and our form, they nonetheless carried on working. For me, that is going to take them a great distance.

“What I know about football is when you’re hurting, you have to react to it and that is just getting your head down and working hard.

“I must say congratulations to them. I assumed they had been glorious over each legs. For us, it was one other night time of what may go mistaken did go mistaken. The early objective was laborious to take, however the boys did not change the way in which they wished to play within the first half and till we received to the final 20 minutes, it opened up fully and I felt it received away from us.”

Lindsey: My boys had been excellent tonight

Crawley supervisor Scott Lindsey instructed Sky Sports activities:

“I’m really proud. We came into this game really humble and really respectful that we had another task in the shape of MK Dons – who are a very good side. Even though we were 3-0 in front at half time, as it were, we felt we still had a lot to do, so we kept our feet firmly on the ground coming into the game.

“My boys did not half carry out nicely tonight – I assumed we had been excellent. We scored some nice objectives, we had been aggressive within the press and aggressive with the ball.

“As a manager, you know how football can be – it’s got a nasty habit of kicking you where it hurts, so you never really relax until the final whistle, if I’m honest with you. But I actually enjoyed certainly the last 20 minutes where we were brilliant with the ball. We picked them off, made them run and it was clear to see they got frustrated with that.

“We’ll get well tomorrow and we’ll be again in on Monday and attending to work. We’ll watch Crewe at size and intimately, begin placing a gameplan collectively within the early a part of the week and nothing will change with our preparation. We’re actually wanting ahead to it.”

What’s subsequent?

Crawley advance to the Sky Guess League Two play-off ultimate, the place they’ll face Crewe at Wembley on Sunday Could 19, dwell on Sky Sports activities Soccer.

MK Dons will stay within the fourth tier for the 2024/25 marketing campaign.