Match ends, Walsall 1, Crewe Alexandra 1.
WalsallWalsall1CreweCrewe Alexandra1
Walsall remained second behind Burton in League One despite being held at home by struggling Crewe Alexandra.
Tom Bradshaw opened the scoring with a bullet header from an Anthony Forde cross as Walsall made a fast start.
But defender Ben Nugent equalised for Crewe on 18 minutes with a left-foot shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Forde missed the best chance to take all three points when he scuffed an effort wide from close range, before full-back Jason Demetriou hit the bar.
Walsall are now three points off top spot ahead of Tuesday night's trip to Scunthorpe, while Crewe, who host Southend, remain second from bottom.
Walsall manager Dean Smith told BBC WM:
"To follow the performance on Wednesday night against Chelsea with the sort of quality we showed is really pleasing, because it could have been a case of 'After the Lord Mayor's Show'.
"I've got a lot of respect for Crewe with their philosophy and the way they play. But to outperform them like we did was excellent. It was one-way traffic.
"We could have been out of sight at a canter at one stage. It felt like there was a force-field around their goal at times. But you're always open to a counter attack."
Crewe manager Steve Davis told BBC Radio Stoke:
"I was disappointed with how we started but we were much better second half when we started to play. We showed our intent taking a midfielder off and putting a forward on. We thought we could nick it.
"When a team is flying like Walsall are it's very difficult to get anything and we went toe-to-toe with them, had a real go and we got our rewards.
"Conceding the manner of goal we did was disappointing but we battled back with a great strike from arguably our best player, Ben Nugent. He was terrific at the back, immense with clearance, blocks and headers."
Line-ups
Walsall
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Etheridge
- 2Demetriou
- 6Downing
- 4O'Connor
- 3Taylor
- 7Chambers
- 8Mantom
- 12FordeSubstituted forCookat 75'minutes
- 10SawyersBooked at 87mins
- 15LalkovicSubstituted forMorrisat 75'minutes
- 9Bradshaw
Substitutes
- 11Baxendale
- 13MacGillivray
- 14Henry
- 16Preston
- 17Flanagan
- 18Morris
- 21Cook
Crewe
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Garratt
- 2Turton
- 4DavisSubstituted forRayat 44'minutes
- 6NugentBooked at 74mins
- 8AtkinsonSubstituted forHaberat 79'minutes
- 16King
- 10Inman
- 12Dalla ValleSubstituted forWilsonat 76'minutes
- 15FoxBooked at 69mins
- 27Colclough
- 17Kingsley
Substitutes
- 3Guthrie
- 5Ray
- 9Haber
- 11Cooper
- 21Wintle
- 24Wilson
- 25Ainley
- Referee:
- James Linington
- Attendance:
- 4,229
Match Stats
Home TeamWalsallAway TeamCrewe
- Possession
- Home64%
- Away36%
- Shots
- Home21
- Away7
- Shots on Target
- Home9
- Away2
- Corners
- Home14
- Away4
- Fouls
- Home13
- Away7
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Walsall 1, Crewe Alexandra 1.
Post update
Attempt missed. Tom Bradshaw (Walsall) left footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
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Corner, Walsall. Conceded by David Fox.
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Foul by Adam Chambers (Walsall).
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Harry Wilson (Crewe Alexandra) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by James O'Connor (Walsall).
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Bradden Inman (Crewe Alexandra) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Corner, Walsall. Conceded by Ben Garratt.
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Attempt saved. Kieron Morris (Walsall) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Booking
Romaine Sawyers (Walsall) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Romaine Sawyers (Walsall).
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Ryan Colclough (Crewe Alexandra) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Attempt saved. Harry Wilson (Crewe Alexandra) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
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Jason Demetriou (Walsall) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Harry Wilson (Crewe Alexandra).
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Attempt missed. Kieron Morris (Walsall) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
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Attempt saved. Kieron Morris (Walsall) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Post update
Corner, Crewe Alexandra. Conceded by Jason Demetriou.
Post update
Corner, Walsall. Conceded by David Fox.
