Things You Might've Missed In The EFL This Week (13th-19th Oct)

The Premier League had a 51-metre goal this weekend and got very excited about it. The EFL had one from the halfway line that didn't even win the game and a volley from a place no sane footballer shoots from.

Let's get into it.

What's the Worst That Can Happen?

For context, MK Dons hadn't won a league game all season. Promoted from League Two in May, they went into Saturday's 12.30 kick-off second from bottom in League One, a week after losing 5-1 at home to Reading. Paul Warne's side needed something. Anything.

Now seriously, this goal is insane.

On 25 minutes the captain picked the ball up on the right, tried a nutmeg (something he admitted afterwards he hadn't pulled off in years), skipped past two Luton players, let the ball bounce and volleyed it from around 35 yards over James Shea and into the far corner. Essentially from the touchline.

Let's be clear, there is no world in which shooting from there is the right decision. Gilbey's own reasoning afterwards was basically the heading of this section. As a philosophy for a team at the bottom of the league, we've heard worse.

Jordan Clark levelled for Jack Wilshere's Luton on 70 minutes, which felt about right for MK Dons' luck so far this season. Then Aaron Collins was brought down by George Johnston and sent Shea the wrong way from the spot on 79, his 10th goal of the season. First league win of the campaign. Gilbey said at full time he felt shattered and old.

Imagine he slept well.

Welcome to London Road, Robbie

Diego Gómez wasn't the only player scoring from the halfway line this weekend. He might not even have had the most dramatic afternoon.

Robbie Savage's first home league game as Peterborough manager got off to a flier when Owura Edwards scored in the 2nd minute. Charlie Webster levelled for Burton on the half hour, and the whole thing was drifting towards a draw. Then, in the 89th minute, Gbemi Arubi, who'd already had a go from distance and seen it fly wide, tried again from the halfway line. This time it went in.

That should be the story. A halfway-line winner, a first win in 3 games for Burton, Savage's home league bow ruined.

Except it was the 89th minute, and there's always a 96th. Matt Garbett followed up a rebound in the 6th minute of stoppage time to make it 2-2. Burton went from the best moment of their season to taken home a solemn singular point in about 7 minutes, and Savage, never a man knowingly short of an opinion, will have had plenty of them on the drive home. Some introduction to the Posh faithful.

Shutting Up Shop With 9 Men

Shrewsbury against Bristol Rovers in League Two was goalless for 77 minutes and, if we're being honest, wasn't troubling the highlights editors much, or me, for that matter. 

On 77 minutes Will Boyle went down under a challenge from Joe Quigley, and George Lloyd stroked the penalty home. 3 minutes later, Jay Turner-Cooke was sent off for a late tackle. 10 men, 10 minutes plus stoppage time to see out. Doable. Then, 4 minutes into added time, Isaac Fletcher was shown a straight red as well. 9 men.

And they held on.

Rovers, who have now lost 5 of their last 6 league games, couldn't find a way past a side that had almost run out of players to send off. There's a version of this game where Shrewsbury throw it away and I'm writing a very different paragraph, or none at all. 

Super Sub at Oakwell

Cambridge were losing at half-time. Vimal Yoganathan had tapped in at the back post 4 minutes before the break after a scramble in the box, and Barnsley looked comfortable enough.

So Neil Harris sent on Shayne Lavery at the break, in place of Issac Heath. On 52 minutes Lavery drove to the left byline, cut it back, and Ben Knight swept in a half-volley. 1-1. Then, a minute into stoppage time, Rogan Ravenhill could only parry a close-range shot and Lavery was there to turn in the rebound from 2 yards. One substitute, one assist, one winner, and Cambridge's unbeaten away record in League One carries on.

The backstory makes it better. Lavery's career has been dogged by hamstring problems, and Cambridge actually let him go over the summer before bringing him back on a one-year deal a few weeks later. 

It's not the first time this season he's changed a game from the bench either, and Harris reportedly called this the best 45 minutes he's seen from any player in the league this season.

Cambridge sit fifth, a point off the top of League One.

Can't Win at Home

Burnley haven't won a league game at Turf Moor since 18 October 2025, a 2-0 against Leeds back when they were still in the Premier League. By the time Charlton visited on Tuesday 13 October, that was 360 days and counting. For 39 minutes of that night, it looked like the wait was finally over.

Jacob Bruun Larsen put Burnley ahead on 36 minutes, Kayne Ramsay equalised for Charlton on 50, and Largie Ramazani restored the lead on 57. Then, in the 96th minute, with practically the last kick of the game, substitute Ivan Mesik took a pass from Harvey Knibbs and struck it across Grégoire Coudert. 2-2. His first goal for Charlton, and not a bad one to open the account with.

Nicky Hayen's summary after Charlton was blunt and fairly accurate: "We have lost four points in 10 seconds." Nathan Jones, meanwhile, had spent part of the evening taking abuse from one supporter behind his technical area, and made a point of letting them know it's never over once Mesik scored. 

And the wait? Burnley hosted Wolves on Friday night. Jamie Vardy, 39 and apparently immune to the passage of time, put them ahead after 20 minutes. Fer López equalised on 39, and Tawanda Chirewa won it on 72. 1-2.

That's now 21 league games at Turf Moor without a win, 11 defeats and 10 draws, which Sky Sports reckon is the longest run without a home league win anywhere in England's top four tiers. Somebody get this club a lucky charm.

That's the week in the EFL. Anything we've missed from your club? Let me know, I read every one.