Crewe Alex 1-0 Salford City 25-26 Review - Baffling

Crewe Alexandra of 2025-26 are the most confusing team. I've not seen anything like it. They can literally go from battling past an in form Oldham side at home to losing comfortably on the road at a mid-table and out of form Accrington. Only then to come back home and deservedly beat a side that is going to make the play-offs this season. It makes no sense. But that's exactly what they did, as they brilliantly took 6 points off Karl Robinson, something I was desperate to see them do. Here is my review of their win over Salford:

Chances

Had the Alex not won that game, it would have been an injustice. Whilst they've been on the end of narrow defeats which in reality should have been heavy ones, this was the same but in the opposite direction. 20 shots put on goal, hitting the bar 3 times, having a goal disallowed for offside. I did worry they were going to rue all those missed chances, but thankfully in the end, they didn't matter too much. One goal was enough, but next time lads, put one or two more in to make it easier on everyone's nerves and fingernails!

Loanees

The Alex haven't been as reliant on loanees as they have been in the past. But we can't deny that their season would have been over a long time ago were it not for the contributions of Emre Tezgel and Tommi O'Reilly. O'Reilly has struggled in recent weeks as the amount of minutes he's played has taken a physical toll on him. But he still has that game winning quality and so it proved as he swung in a delicious cross for Tezgel to pounce on. He edges ahead once again in the leading assists race with 11, 1 ahead of Chesterfield's Liam Mandeville.

And speaking of Tezgel, his 10th league goal from just his 16th start was a well taken one. His goals per start, goals per minute and goals per appearance are excellent. Only Aaron Drinan, Alessana Jatta and Nicke Kabamba have a better goals per minute ratio than him of players to score 10 or more goals.

There have been some real duds in the loan market this season for the Alex(I'm looking at you Sam Waller and Jay Mingi) but my goodness have they knocked it out the park with O'Reilly and Tezgel. They are going to take some replacing this summer.

Clean Sheet

I'll always highlight clean sheets as positives, because of course you would. But today was possibly their best defensive performances of the season. They restricted a dangerous Salford side to very little on goal. The Ammies had just 2 shots on target and only one of those came from inside the box, Graydon's 5th minute chance. The Alex reduced a side with a lot of attacking talent in it to pot shots and efforts from distance.

It was an outstanding display, not just individually, but as a unit. They've had a few too many ropey games at the back this season, but this was one of their better ones. Maybe, given it was their first clean sheet against a top half side this season, it was their best one.

Better against Better

As I alluded to in the opening preamble, it's bizarre how better the Alex play when they are against better sides. Whilst I don't want to bring up negatives, it shows that their issue isn't talent, it's mentality. Today they knew they were going to have scrap and fight and battle for every ball. And they did. Against Accrington, it was like they thought they could win without overly exerting themselves and they got punished for it. There was none of that complacency today.

Today we saw a side that looked and believed like they could make the top 7 and put in a display to match it. I've praised the forward play for the chances they created and the defensive display for how few chances they gave up, but this was an all round performance against, as I said, a side that will either be promoted automatically this season or at the very worst be in the play-offs. And the Alex have just taken 6 points off them.

Home Results

I worried about their home results following the Walsall defeat, but to be fair, they've bounced back superbly with 2 wins at Gresty Road against 2 promotion contending teams. This win puts them on 12 home wins, their most ever in a season under Lee Bell. Whilst they won't match their modern record of 15 wins, which the managed in 1996-97 and 2018-19, they have done much better at home this season than they did in either of the last 2. That deserves a large amount of credit.

Play-Off Update

I forgot to include this in my preview, but let's look at how the other promotion chasing teams got on. All hopes that any of the top 6 might be losing form and could be dragged back into the mix were ended today with Swindon winning. Salford are the closest to the teams below them, but with already on 73 points, it's hard to see any of the teams from 7th downwards overhauling them. It's possible, but unlikely. So, it really is just 7th that is up for grabs.

I say that, but Chesterfield are doing their best to pull away from the sides beneath them. A 3rd straight win at Barrow, albeit by a single goal, has put them on 68 points. Their next fixture is against free falling Tranmere, so that looks to be another 3 points in the bag. Tough for the chasers for sure.

Oldham got a respectable point at home to MK Dons, so a 4 point haul from the Easter weekend isn't bad for them. They are still very much in the hunt. As are Grimsby, who bounced back from their nightmare defeat against Harrogate to win comfortably at Crawley. That had looked to be a banana skin for them, but 2 first half goals had them in control before Jay Williams did Jay Williams things and got sent off for the Red Devils. Next up for Grimsby of course, a crunch home game against the Alex next Saturday.

Barnet also took advantage of the opposition getting a red card, as Shaun Rooney got sent off for Fleetwood just before half time with the score at 0-0. They used that extra man to score 5 and put up a big away win.

We might be almost ready to count Walsall out though. They looked good for a win against Swindon, but 2 late goals saw them slip to their first defeat under Darren Byfield, but more importantly it put them on 1 win from their last 5. With them on 62 points and now 6 off Chesterfield with 4 games to go, they might be about done.

Referee Assessment

Shocking. Soft fouls going against the Alex all game. But then, the Alex getting the short end of the stick against Salford from a ref is nothing new.

Management Assessment

My only minor grip was that I'd have liked to have seen changes made slightly earlier. And I wasn't a fan of them going to a back 3. But then, with a short bench, they once again got a response out of the group. It's just frustrating that they need responses so often.

Player Assessments

Ian Lawlor

Only had to make 2 saves and both were relatively routine. That being said, he was once again a bit reluctant to leave his line at times.

Lewis Billington

An excellent display. I still have my doubts about him long term at RB, but today he showed fantastic energy to get forward and he coped as best he could in the 2nd half against the lively Longelo.

James Connolly

Solid for the most part I thought. Yes, Salford occasionally found space around him and Demetriou, but the pair of them generally stood up well. Unlucky to be offside for his goal in the 2nd half.

Mickey Demetriou

An excellent display after struggling on Friday. Won everything in spite of the occasion struggles to contain Graydon and Udoh.

Reece Hutchinson

Starting to really struggle to get up and down the pitch. He must be desperate for the break, as he's not as with it physically as he was a month ago. Still, even in a quiet performance, he's still solid.

Max Sanders

Mixed, but more good than bad. Some of his passing wasn't quite as sharp, but he still covered a lot of ground.

Jack Powell

One of his better games. Came close with a fizzing effort in the 2nd half and put in a real shift before coming off.

Tommi O'Reilly

Looks spent, but continues to be on their most dangerous attackers. His cross for Tezgel was outstanding, but he struggled to get anything else going.

Matus Holicek MOTM

Didn't get a goal or an assist, but he was everywhere today. Hit the bar and put himself about. His last 3 games almost sum him up though. A good player, but he needs to find that consistency.

Josh March

A battling performance down the left. He's doing a job for the team, but I'm not sold on him continuing to start out wide.

Emre Tezgel

9 shots today. 9! He scored one and should have buried one of those 2 he put against the woodwork. How he missed both was baffling. But still, a very good performance.

Subs:

Alfie Pond

Not great. Got done late on and got another yellow card, but he did win some headers.

Adrien Thibaut

Put himself about and helped bring some energy up front. I'm glad he came on first over Bogle. He provides so much more right now.

Calum Agius

Rightly dropped after a lack of impact in recent weeks. Only got 1 minute of regular time, which shows he needs to step it up.

Omar Bogle

What a display from him in his 1 minute on the pitch. In all seriousness, I'm not sure what the point was of bringing him on.

Overall Verdict

A brilliant win which keeps them in the hunt. The intensity doesn't drop though as they go into a proper full on 6 pointer against Grimsby next week. But if they can keep up this level of performance and not let their inconsistency cost them, then they have every chance of still cracking the play-offs.