Substitutes Dan Neil and Patrick Roberts scored late goals as Sunderland scraped an unconvincing victory against basement side Crewe Alexandra at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats toiled for 85 minutes against a side that had lost nine of its last ten games, barely testing visiting goalkeeper Dave Richards.
But academy product Neil finally made the breakthrough, just when it seemed that Sunderland might drop two costly points in the race for a play-off place. Roberts then added a second goal in the final minute of normal time to give the scoreline a gloss that did not reflect the game.
For Sunderland, it completed back-to-back wins for the first time in 2022 and it meant they stay fifth in the table on a day when play-off rivals Wycombe, Ipswich, and Portsmouth, all dropped points. Boss Alex Neil made three changes to the side that started the midweek win against Fleetwood.
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Luke O'Nien made his first start since recovering from shoulder surgery, while Lynden Gooch and Jermain Defoe also came into the side, with Arbenit Xhemajli, Elliot Embleton, and Roberts made way. Crewe boss David Artell also made three changes, in his case to the side that lost at home to Portsmouth on Tuesday night, with Callum Ainley, Rakeem Harper, and Zac Williams starting, and they replaced Chris Porter, Dan Agyei, and Luke Murphy.
The first half was a difficult watch, with Sunderland dominating possession but without finding a way through the Crewe defence. The sum total of their efforts in the first 45 minutes was one Ross Stewart header from a corner, which was straight at Richards who made a routine save on his line. Earlier there had been a half-chance for Defoe when Carl Winchester's ball over the visiting defence released the veteran striker, but he could not bring it under control and it ran through to Richards.
Other than that, Sunderland passed the ball backwards and forwards to little effect and on the occasions when they did give the ball away, there were groans from the crowd. Referee Carl Boyeson also drew the fans' ire, awarding a series of free-kicks which meant there was little fluidity to the play.
The only consolation was that Crewe created even less in front of goal than Sunderland - finishing the half without so much as a single shot, on or off target. Sunderland were no better at the start of the second period, and Neil had made all three of his allotted substitutions before the midway point of the half with Neil, Dajaku, and Roberts coming on for O'Nien, Gooch, and Defoe.
Crewe had a couple of opportunities, with Chris Long blazing over from inside the box when he should have done better, and a few minutes later the same player tried a shot on the turn from 25 yards but it was straight at Patterson. Jay Matete brought a good save out of Richards 20 minutes from time after he had glided between two defenders to get into the box, but he couldn't squeeze his finish past the keeper.
But Sunderland finally made the breakthrough five minutes from time, with a move started and finished by Neil. He played the ball to Stewart on the edge of the box, and the striker held it up before rolling it back into his path inside the D and the midfielder placed his shot beyond Richards and inside the right-hand post.
Roberts almost added a second when he cut into the box from the right, only to send his shot over the bar. But Roberts did get a goal to kill the game off in the 89th minute, collecting a pass from Jack Clarke on the edge of the box before taking a touch and finding the bottom right-hand corner.
How they lined up
Sunderland: Patterson, Winchester, Wright, Cirkin, Gooch (Dajaku 59), Evans, Matete, O'Nien (Neil 59), Clarke, Defoe (Roberts 64), Stewart. Subs not used: Hoffmann, Doyle, Embleton, Hume
Booked: Gooch, Wright, Cirkin, Dajaku
Crewe Alexandra: Richards, Offord, O'Riordan, Johnson, Williams (Lawton 90+6), Harper (Sambou 74), Griffiths, Lowery, Lundstram, Ainley (Finney 80), Long. Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Porter, Murphy, Salisbury
Booked: Williams, Lundstram, Lowery
Referee: Carl Boyeson (East Yorkshire)
Attendance: 30,036
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