A second-half goal from substitute Elliott Nevitt saw Crewe Alexandra defeat bottom-placed Sutton United at the Alexandra Stadium yesterday.
Manager Lee Bell made 3 changes from Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Doncaster Rovers with Zac Williams, Joel Tabiner and Courtney Baker-Richardson coming in for Ryan Cooney, Aaron Rowe and Nevitt, who all dropped down to the bench where they were joined by the returning Charlie Finney. Former Alex forward Scott Kashket was not involved for the visitors.
After Baker-Richardson got injured in the opening half-minute and was replaced by Nevitt, the game’s opening chance came in the 13th minute as midfielder Charlie Lakin would have an effort that went past the post before the Alex’s first effort arrived a couple of minutes later as goalkeeper Steve Arnold did not deal with Charlie Kirk’s cross with Tabiner denied from point-blank range by the keeper.
The game’s main talking point came 9 minutes before the break as a ball in behind the visitors’ defence found Shilow Tracey who was wiped out by Arnold (similar to the challenge at the end of the Liverpool and Man City game from the weekend) with EFL debutant referee Andrew Humphries not even giving the incident as a foul. The visitors had the next chance on the hour-mark as an inswinging corner was volleyed wide by Kizzi from the edge of the 6-yard box under little pressure.
The Alex would take the lead in the 71st minute as substitute Rowe would play a through-ball to Nevitt, who rounded the keeper and his shot beat Kizzi over the line before the defender could get back to it with the hosts holding on to return to fourth position in the table.
The next couple of games see the Alex travelling to MK Dons on Saturday before hosting AFC Wimbledon the following Saturday.
Final Thoughts:
This was a poor spectacle to watch, especially in the first half, but it was an important three points to get on the board after recent results.
The challenge by Arnold on Tracey saw the referee (and the assistant who was close to the action) make a decision that was both baffling and one that could be seen as “ruining” the game if he sent off the keeper.
Alexandra Stadium
League 2
12/03/2024 8:45 pm
Attendance: 3562
Referee: Andrew Humphries
| Crewe Alexandra | Sutton United | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevitt | |||||||
| Booth | Arnold | ||||||
| Adebisi | Jackson | ||||||
| Turns | Sowunmi | ||||||
| Demetriou | Kizzi | ||||||
| Williams | Adom-Malaki | ||||||
| Thomas | Lakin | ||||||
| Austerfield | Clay | 73 | |||||
| Tracey | Coley | 73 | |||||
| Tabiner | 60 | Beautyman | 53 | ||||
| Kirk | 60 | Moore | 73 | ||||
| Baker-Richardson | 5 | Smith | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Davies | Kerbey | ||||||
| Cooney | N'Guessan | ||||||
| Leigh | 60 | Eastmond | 73 | ||||
| Nevitt | 5 | Taylor | |||||
| Rowe | 60 | Sanderson | 73 | ||||
| Finney | Hart | 73 | |||||
| Billington | Duke-McKenna | 53 | |||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 7 | Goal attempts | 11 |
| 3 | On Target | 2 |
| 5 | Corners | 4 |
| 13 | Fouls | 12 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 4 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 53 | % | 47 |