Ten-man Peterborough United have recorded a 2-0 half-time lead over MK Dons at London Road, courtesy of goals from Lee Tomlin and Britt Assombalonga.
Darren Ferguson's men got off to a dreadful start, with Posh being reduced to 10 men within six minutes of kickoff after Nathaniel Knight-Percival was shown a straight red card following an altercation with Patrick Bamford.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, the hosts took a 1-0 lead on 12 minutes through Tomlin, who dispatched a penalty after Shaun Williams fouled Danny Swanson inside the area.
Karl Robinson's side struggled to capitalise on their one-man advantage and the visitors nearly fell further behind, with Tyrone Barnett heading into the side-netting after connecting with a floated cross from Swanson.
The Dons began to develop a foothold in proceedings as the half progresses and could have drawn level through Jon Otsemobor, but his header whistled wide of the post.
Robinson's men were made to pay for the missed opportunity, as in-form striker Assombalonga doubled his team's lead 10 minutes from the interval by slotting past David Martin.