Managerial masterclass sees Sunderland snatch a point at Crewe

Two goals from second-half substitutes Jordan Jones and Chris Maguire give Sunderland a valuable point at Crewe.

Two first-half strikes from Chris Porter and Tom Lowery gave Crewe a two-goal advantage going into halftime but early in the second half Lee Johnson rang the changes and they paid off as two of them notched with goal of the season contenders to keep Sunderland in the play-off places.

Neither team could really get a hold of the ball at all in the game and it was a scrappy affair throughout, Crewe however broke the deadlock midway through the first half as former Black Cat Mikael Mandron rolled the ball across for Porter to tap home into an empty net.

Things went from bad to worse for the away side as Mandron got himself another assist, the forward linked up with Lowery and the latter swept home from a low ball across the box.

Just before the hour mark, the Sunderland manager decided he had seen enough and made four changes including Jones and Maguire entering the game.

It seemed as though the away side would need a spark of brilliance to ignite them into the game and that came in the form of Jones with just under 15 minutes to play of regulation time.

The winger picked up the ball on the left-hand side, beat his man with some trickery then sent a rocket into the far top corner, leaving Crewe goalkeeper Dave Richards helpless.

Injuries slowed the second-half down and with a lengthy injury for substitute Grant Leadbitter, there would be nine minutes of additional time.

The game seemed to be ebbing away from the Black Cats but a long ball downfield eventually found its way to Chris Maguire who, on the volley, smashed the ball into the far top corner six minutes into stoppage time.

Sunderland did nearly win it towards the end, Leadbitter’s replacement Carl Winchester connected with a corner but he couldn’t divert his header goalwards and the spoils would be shared.

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