Crewe won 1-2 away at Rochdale in League Two's second round on Saturday. The visitors took the lead through a penalty before holding on despite late pressure from the hosts.
Pemi Aderoju gave Rochdale the lead in the eighth minute. Ethan Ebanks-Landell doubled their advantage just after the break, but Louie Watson stepped up from the spot in the seventy-second minute to level matters. And here's the thing — it was Watson who ultimately decided it, not the earlier goalscorers.
Rochdale dominated possession at 54 per cent and registered more attacks, 82 to 70. They had three shots on target compared to Crawley's two, but accuracy matters more than volume. By then, the penalty had already shifted the momentum, and Crawley didn't let the tie slip.
Both sides accumulated four yellow cards each, with the hosts picking up bookings in the first half and the visitors responding after the interval. The statistics tell you nothing about who actually won the middle third of the pitch.
Rochdale remain nineteenth with three points from four games, having now lost three of their last five matches. Crawley move up to seventeenth on four points, a result that extends their unbeaten run to two games.