Crewe 3 Crawley 0: Nine-man Reds suffer away-day defeat

Action shotes of Game SUS-170912-191301008

Crawley Town's three-match unbeaten run ended with a 3-0 defeat at Crewe thanks to a Chris Dagnall brace and a goal by Callum Ainley.

Ainley gave the Railwaymen the lead in the 39th minute with a piece of brilliance from a narrow angle.

Crewe made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time through Dagnall’s glancing header.

Reds skipper Jimmy Smith was sent-off after 60 minutes after receiving a straight red card.

Jorsan Roberts was also red-carded for his second yellow card of the match.

Finally Dagnall added a 90th minute third goal on the rebound to clinch Crewe’s second victory in seven matches.

Both sides made just one change to their line-ups with Harry Kewell giving a return to striker Thomas Verheydt in place of Josh Lelan who was on the bench.

Crewe boss Dave Artell rested top scorer Chris Porter following Wednesday night’s 1-0 FA Cup 2nd round replay defeat against League 1 club Blackburn Rovers and handed a start to Jordan Bowery.

Reds hit the woodwork from a breakaway when Josh Payne’s strike from the edge of the area hit Verheydt and rebounded off the crossbar.

Crewe had a chance from Bowery who was unmarked at the far post but put his shot wide.

George Cooper put Glenn Morris to the test from long-range following free-kick which he caught.