Sunderland will face Wycombe Wanderers in the League One play-off final - if they get past Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Monday night. The Chairboys lost 1-0 at MK Dons in their semi-final second leg, but won through 2-1 on aggregate after their 2-0 first-leg win.
That means they will face either Alex Neil's Black Cats or Darren Moore's Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley on May 21. The Wearsiders hold a 1-0 advantage thanks to Ross Stewart's goal in the Stadium of Light first leg on Friday night.
The Dons placed the Chairboys under severe pressure for the majority of the contest at Stadium MK, but all they had to show for their efforts was Troy Parrott's header in the first half. MK Dons came within inches of halving the deficit within 65 seconds of the kick-off when Harry Darling's header from a Scott Twine corner looped against the bar.
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Wycombe goalkeeper David Stockdale then had to prevent Theo Corbeanu's cross sneaking in at his near post before Twine shot wide when well-positioned in the Chairboys' penalty area. It was part of a frantic start by the Dons, who appeared to be men in a hurry, and they had another half-chance when Dan Harvie flicked a header wide from Twine's free-kick.
The breakthrough they deserved came after 26 minutes when Hiram Boateng's ball into the box picked out Parrott coming around the back and his header looped in over Stockdale. Twine then threatened twice from free-kicks in quick succession, first forcing Stockdale to tip over before sending another effort into the side-netting.
The only frustration for MK Dons following a dominant first-half display was they could not level the tie before half-time, with Corbeanu having a shot turned behind by Stockdale's foot. The hosts continued to press after the restart, and it took a brilliant last-ditch challenge from Wycombe captain Joe Jacobson to get in the way of Parrott's effort.
Stockdale then came to Wycombe's rescue again when he produced a terrific save to keep out a vicious effort from Corbeanu. Having hardly threatened at all, the Chairboys almost came up with a sucker-punch when midfielder Dominic Gape shot wide from just outside the box.
The chances had finally started to dry up for the Dons, who brought on striker Connor Wickham as time started to run out. Ten minutes after his arrival, Wickham headed Kaine Kesler Hayden's cross over the bar before Stockdale had one more save to pull off, from Parrott in stoppage time, as Wycombe held on.
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