Manchester City's promotion charge suffered a hiccup at Selhurst Park as two goals from Wimbledon's Neil Shipperley inflicted a 2-1 defeat on the Nationwide Division One leaders.

Wimbledon, currently besieged with internal politics over their proposed move to Milton Keynes, turned on the style to complete a 6-1 aggregate double over City.

Visiting boss Kevin Keegan will however be kicking himself after watching his side waste an opportunity to move six points clear at the top of the table.

Keegan's cavalier football failed to materialise as a below-par playing surface combined with some resolute Dons defending to frustrate free-scoring City.

City dominated the opening 45 minutes, enjoying a lion's share of possession but after an early miss by the prolific Shaun Goater, the visitors struggled to reproduce the form that had seen them overwhelm Premiership Ipswich 4-1 in the FA Cup last week.

And it was Wimbledon who created the first openings with Neal Ardley and Damien Francis going close for the Dons.

City have been looking like certain candidates for promotion, but defensive frailties, similar to those seen when Wimbledon trounced the table-toppers 4-0 at Maine Road earlier this season, could prove to be Keegan's undoing.

After 33 minutes City's defence were caught cold, completely missing Michael Hughes' quickly-taken free-kick, and an unmarked Shipperley converted for his easiest finish of the season.

After the interval, City pressed hard for a leveller and it eventually came through former Monaco star Ali Benarbia.

In the 54th minute, Benarbia collected a deflected Darren Huckerby cross, shimmied past three Dons defenders before rolling the ball beyond Kelvin Davis.

City's scoring exuberance allowed Wimbledon space in attack and Shipperley could have collected a second on 57 minutes.

With 69 minutes on the clock, City's Eyal Berkovic fouled Ardley on the edge of the box and then dived on the floor clutching his face.

His theatrics earned a booking but more importantly, from the resulting Ardley free-kick, Shipperley notched his decisive second.

City threw everything at the Dons in the final 20 minutes and could have drawn level through Goater but the Bermudan saw his effort ruled out for offside.

City's afternoon worsened in stoppage time when former England international Stuart Pearce was red-carded for a professional foul on Joel McAnuff.

Teams:

Wimbledon: Davis, Cunningham, Holloway, Andersen, Hawkins, Cooper, Ardley, Francis, Hughes, Agyemang (McAnuff 90), Shipperley.

Subs Not Used: Kimble, Willmott, Morgan, Gore.

Booked: Hughes.

Goals: Shipperley 34, 69.

Man City: Weaver, Jensen, Pearce, Wiekens (Negouai 82), Dunne, Horlock, Huckerby, Berkovic (Edghill 77), Benarbia, Goater, Wright-Phillips.

Subs Not Used: Dickov, Ritchie, Nash.

Sent Off: Pearce (90).

Booked: Berkovic.

Goals: Benarbia 54.

Att: 10,664

Ref: Phil Dowd (England).