MK Dons 1-2 Leeds: Chris Wood and Charlie Taylor goals enough for victory

Leeds produced a smash-and-grab display at MK Dons to clinch a 2-1 win courtesy of first-half goals from Chris Wood and Charlie Taylor.

Dons began brightly, with Rob Hall coming within a whisker of putting Karl Robinson's side ahead after eight minutes, slaloming through the centre of the pitch before sending his shot just wide.

Southampton loanee Sam Gallagher was next to go close for Dons, forcing Marco Silvestri to palm the ball over the crossbar for a corner in the 19th minute, having been fed by Carl Baker.

Silvestri was called into action again after 27 minutes, blocking a close-range effort from Josh Murphy as the winger left Scott Wootton trailing in his wake with a superb dummy.

But the hosts would soon be taught a harsh lesson in making chances count, when Baker went to ground in the box, bringing down Taylor as the Leeds left-back drove into the box. Wood made no mistake with the resulting penalty, striking firmly to David Martin's left.

Stuart Dallas then presented Wood with a chance to double his tally when he whipped the ball in from the right, only for the New Zealand international to chest the ball over the crossbar.

Robinson's side were again denied by Silvestri four minutes before half-time, the Italian goalkeeper pushing a fiercely-struck attempt from Hall onto the post.

But Leeds would double their advantage within two minutes as Taylor drove forward from left-back once again before lashing a superb strike into the bottom corner to leave the hosts shell-shocked at the break.

The visitors took control in the early stages of the second half, but Robinson's introduction of Simon Church and Ben Reeves saw the Dons up the tempo.

They had two chances to pull themselves back into the game in quick succession in the 65th minute, when Diego Poyet's looping 25-yard strike was tipped over by Silvestri before Murphy slammed the ball against the face of the post as Dons worked the ball short from the resulting corner.

Robinson's men finally got off the mark with 16 minutes left when Church turned Murphy's low centre home from point-blank range.

Their hopes of salvaging a point took looked to have taken a blow as Samir Carruthers was dismissed for an ugly challenge on Dallas, but the 10 men continued to press for an equaliser, with Reeves drawing another good save from Silvestri with a free-kick seven minutes from time.

Goalkeeper Martin joined the attack as Dons won a corner in the sixth minute of added time. Antony Kay found the target from the delivery but saw his header stopped on the line as Leeds held on for the win.