The first leg of the EFL League One play-off semi-finals saw an extraordinary night of football as Wycombe Wanderers eased past nine-man Fleetwood Town 4-1 at Highbury Stadium.
Nnamdi Ofoborh gave Wycombe the lead in the second minute before seeing Ched Evans level from the penalty spot two minutes later. The visitors were back in front after an own goal by Fleetwood goalkeeper Alex Cairns.
Lewie Coyle was sent off in the 33rd minute and after Cairns saved Joe Jacobson's penalty, David Wheeler added a third in first-half stoppage time. Alex Samuel made it four on 57 minutes and Paddy Madden's sending off five minutes from time completed a miserable night for the hosts.
Story of the game
Wycombe were ahead moments after kickoff as Matt Bloomfield picked Ofoborh out from the right and the Nigerian's vicious strike gave Cairns no chance. Fleetwood needed a response and got it in the fourth minute.
Chairboys goalkeeper Ryan Allsop brought down Lewis Gibson inside his own area and Evans confidently struck in the lower left corner, sending Allsop the wrong way. Remarkably, a third goal came inside seven minutes as Joe Jacobson's corner bounced off of Cairns and into his own net.
Bloomfield, Fred Odenyinma and Dominic Gape all had chances to extend the visitors' lead, but failed to sufficiently test Cairns. Disaster struck Fleetwood in the 32nd minute as Coyle was shown a straight red card after a ghastly challenge on Jacobson even though he appeared to have won the ball.
Stepping up to the spot, Jacobson saw his effort saved by Cairns, who also denied Wheeler's rebound. In first-half stoppage time, those two were involved again as Wheeler's exquisite volley beat Cairns to give the Chairboys a two-goal lead at halftime.
Wes Burns was finding space to run into for the hosts, but no one was able to get onto the end of his service. Cairns' nightmare evening continued as he missed on a aerial ball, allowing Alex Samuel a simple finish into an open net. Goal-scorer turned provider as he fed Onyedinma with a lovely through ball that Cairns saved.
Fleetwood's night of misery was complete five minutes from time as substitute Madden was booked for simulation after clashing with Darius Charles and shown a second yellow after dissent and he, along with Coyle, will miss the second leg next week at Adams Park.
Man of the Match: Alex Cairns
It may not be for all the right reasons, and it’s not often that a player from the side that lost would be the focal point, but it's unlikely a player, especially a goalkeeper, had as much to do with a solitary result as much as Cairns has. Beaten two minutes in, putting his side behind five minutes later with an own goal, saving a penalty, whiffing to gift Wycombe a fourth and making some great saves all add up to an eventful night for the Cod Army shot-stopper.
Takeaways
The tie is over. It's not that Fleetwood need four goals to overturn the deficit they face, they'll have to do it without two of their best players in Madden and Coyle. Wycombe took advantage of their numerical edge and were flying high throughout the contest. While manager Gareth Ainsworth will have to remind his team that anything can happen, he'll surely have one eye on the other semi-final between Oxford United and Portsmouth to see who the Chairboys will face at Wembley in the final.