Crawley Town were comprehensively beaten 4-1 by Milton Keynes Dons in their EFL Trophy group stage fixture on Tuesday evening. The heavy defeat extends a difficult start to the season for Colin Kazım-Richards's side, who now sit 24th in the League Two table with just four points from seven games.
Ben Wiles opened the scoring for the hosts three minutes before half-time, and Jack Sanders doubled the advantage on the stroke of the interval, converting a Daniel Barlaser assist. The Dons' dominance continued after the break, with Elijah Campbell heading in another Barlaser delivery on the hour mark. Rushian Hepburn-Murphy added a fourth from the penalty spot with twenty minutes remaining.
Crawley's only response came deep into added time, as substitute Ty Ewens-Findlay set up Nathan Tinsdale for a late consolation. The visitors finished the match with three yellow cards, having committed 23 fouls compared to the Dons' ten. Manager Colin Kazım-Richards made five substitutions in the second half in an attempt to change the game's momentum, but his team could not recover from the early deficit.
The result marks a fourth consecutive defeat for Crawley, whose recent form reads four losses and a draw from their last five matches across all competitions. They have conceded 13 goals in League Two this season, the second-worst defensive record in the division. Attention now turns to a critical league fixture this Saturday, when they host table-topping Barnet at the Broadfield Stadium.
