Skip to content
Full Time After Extra Time This is a live match. Extra Time Half Time

Milton Keynes Dons vs Middlesbrough. Sky Bet Championship.

Stadium:mkAttendance11,256.

Milton Keynes Dons 1

  • D Bowditch (9th minute)

Middlesbrough 1

  • J Rhodes (93rd minute)

MK Dons 1-1 Middlesbrough: Jordan Rhodes nets late equaliser for Boro

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Highlights from the Sky Bet Championship game between MK Dons and Middlesbrough

Jordan Rhodes opened his goalscoring account for Middlesbrough with a dramatic last-minute equaliser to earn his side a 1-1 draw at MK Dons on Tuesday evening.

Dean Bowditch's ninth-minute goal had looked to have given relegation-battling Dons a vital win, but Rhodes climbed off the bench to net a leveller deep into stoppage time at stadium:mk.

It was Rhodes' first goal for Middlesbrough since joining from Blackburn last week and helped his new side move a point clear at the top of the Sky Bet Championship standings.

Boro went into the game having picked up just one point from their previous three matches, yet head coach Aitor Karanka still initially opted to keep Rhodes on the bench.

He was forced into a defensive change, with Tomas Kalas replacing the injured Daniel Ayala, and his side's back four was breached inside the first 10 minutes.

Jordan Rhodes of Middlesbrough celebrates after scoring his side's equaliser
Image: Jordan Rhodes celebrates after scoring Middlesbrough's equaliser and earning them a point against MK Dons

Kyle McFadzean launched a routine long ball forward, but with Ben Gibson ball-watching, Bowditch was able to gain possession and turn on the edge of the area.

The striker's low shot was weakly struck, but goalkeeper Dimi Konstantopoulos somehow allowed it to squirm from his grasp and roll into the net.

Also See:

Boro almost responded immediately, but while Cristhian Stuani raced into the area to latch on to David Nugent's through ball, his shot was too close to goalkeeper David Martin, who saved with his legs.

That was a rare moment of threat from a Middlesbrough side who have lost their way in the last month or so, and Martin was not called into action again before the interval.

FL72 Live

Stewart Downing cut in from the right-hand side before drilling narrowly over the crossbar, but the former England international was a peripheral presence for the majority of the night, with the MK Dons back four suffering precious few scares.

The hosts were hardly rampant themselves, but with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas covering a lot of ground at the heart of midfield, they mounted a successful rearguard action that successfully curtailed their opponents' attacking threat.

They came close to adding to their lead at the start of the second half, but McFadzean's glanced header from Jake Forster-Caskey's free-kick was saved by Konstantopoulos.

That sparked Middlesbrough's best attacking spell of the game, but the visitors spurned two decent chances within the space of 60 seconds.

Milton Keynes Dons' Jake Forster-Caskey (right) and Middlesbrough's Grant Leadbitter battle for the ball
Image: MK Dons' Jake Forster-Caskey and Middlesbrough's Grant Leadbitter battle for the ball

First, Nugent rolled a 12-yard shot wide after a committed run into the area had taken him past two MK Dons defenders, then, after Stuani's shot was saved by Martin, Ritchie De Laet saw his follow-up effort blocked on the goal-line.

Rhodes came on for the final 22 minutes in an attempt to change the game, and the Scot made his decisive intervention deep into stoppage time.

De Laet swung over a hanging cross from the left and Rhodes looped a header over Martin and into the net.

Around Sky