AFC Wimbledon 1-0 Blackpool: Seasiders inexplicably end the game with NINE men as they suffer another costly defeat

Ethan Robson and Dan Ballard were both shown straight red cards - making it four dismissals for the season already - after Callum Reilly had given the hosts an early lead.

Blackpool’s defeat at Loftus Road means they’ve now lost six of their opening nine league games ahead of Saturday’s clash with bottom side Burton Albion.

It also means they’re now without an away win in 406 days, their last victory coming at Doncaster Rovers on September 17, 2019.

Neil Critchley opted to make four changes to the side that beat MK Dons 1-0 on Saturday.

In came Oliver Sarkic and Dan Kemp for their first league starts for the club, while Ethan Robson and Gary Madine were brought back into the side.

Out went Grant Ward, Ben Woodburn, CJ Hamilton and Jerry Yates - all four dropping to the bench with Critchley opting to freshen it up in the midst of a hectic fixture schedule.

James Husband missed out through suspension while Luke Garbutt, Matty Virtue and Keshi Anderson remain sidelined through injury.

The first shot in anger of the evening came the way of the home side, as Luke O’Neill flashed a 30-yard drive two or three yards over after Gary Madine headed an early corner away from the danger area.

Eight minutes in, Blackpool created a good opening of their own to make the early breakthrough as Gary Madine headed straight at Wimbledon keeper Connal Trueman after being picked out by Sullay Kaikai’s pinpoint free-kick.

The Seasiders had the ball in the back of the net a few moments later when Marvin Ekpiteta forced the ball over the line after Madine had headed a deep corner back across goal, only for the referee to rule it out for an adjudged shove on the keeper.

Those watching replays from the comfort of their own home commented on how soft the awarding was, a galling decision that was made even worse when Wimbledon took the lead just two minutes later.

It came in such soft fashion too, Callum Reilly being allowed to cut inside from the right by Demetri Mitchell and Kaikai before the Dons man fired low beyond Maxwell.

Despite plenty of possession football, Pool struggled to muster much of a response, although Sarkic did shoot straight at Trueman from Madine’s knockdown.

Wimbledon, who slowed the game down and frustrated the Seasiders at every turn, almost doubled their lead when Joe Piggott curled inches wide of Maxwell’s upright from a 25-yard free-kick.

Things went from bad to worse for the Seasiders seven minutes before the interval when they were reduced to 10 men for the third time this season already.

Ethan Robson was the man to be shown a straight red card after being adjudged to have gone over the ball after going in for a 50-50 tackle with Reilly.

The Wimbledon players, incensed by what they thought was a dangerous challenge, immediately swarmed the referee, who initially gave himself some time before brandishing the red.

Wimbledon had a good chance to capitalise on their man advantage at the start of the second half when a dangerous ball was played in from the right.

The Seasiders were all at sea defensively and were fortunate to escape without conceding as an attempted clearance deflected off Ethan Chislett and bobbled narrowly wide.

Pool survived another almost comical goalmouth scramble as Wimbledon began to press ahead in their search for a second.

Critchley’s side finally mustered an effort on goal almost 20 minutes into the second-half, substitute Ben Woodburn drilling over from 30 yards after cutting inside from the left.

Pool finally began to show some promise, Kemp and Mitchell combining well down the left to win a corner from where Madine saw a goalbound header deflect over.

But the more Pool grew in confidence, the greater the gaps that appeared behind their back four.

The hosts almost capitalised on this with 20 minutes to go when they carved Blackpool open life a knife through butter, but fortunately for the Seasiders Maxwell was there to make a stunning save at full-stretch to tip Piggott’s low curling effort around the post.

At the other end, substitute CJ Hamilton used his blistering pace to surge past his marker down the right before failing to hit the target with a fizzed effort.

Blackpool’s lack of discipline came to the fore once again when they were unbelievably reduced to nine men with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Arsenal loanee Dan Ballard, who had previously been Pool’s standout performer, was the man to join Robson in the dressing room following a collision with a Wimbledon player.

Mitchell squandered a golden chance to rescue an unlikely point four minutes from time when he was somehow left completely unmarked behind Wimbledon’s backline, only to shoot straight at the keeper who was completely stranded in no man’s land.

Wimbledon were somehow struggling to hold on against Blackpool’s nine men, as Hamilton shot narrowly wide in the first of four minutes of stoppage time.

But hold on they did, leaving Blackpool to reflect on yet another worrying day at the office.

TEAMS

Wimbledon: Trueman, O’Neill (Kalambayi), Csoka, Thomas, Hartigan, Chislett, McLoughlin, Longman, Reilly, Pigott (Palmer), Seddon

Subs not used: Tzanev, Rudoni, Guinness-Walker, Woodyard, Alexander

Blackpool: Maxwell, Turton, Ekpiteta, Ballard, Mitchell, Williams, Robson, Sarkic (Ward), Kemp (Hamilton), Kaikai (Woodburn), Madine

Subs not used: Sims, Gabriel, Gretarsson, Yates

Referee: Sam Purkiss