Mikael Mandron spot on for Crewe

Posted Wednesday, December 08, 2021 by PA

Two Mikael Mandron penalties secured Crewe a 2-0 win over 10-man Lincoln that moved them off the bottom of League One.

Mandron made up for a poor first-half miss by converting twice from the spot after the break, the second awarded for a trip on Ben Knight that earned Imps defender TJ Eyoma a 50th-minute red card.

Lincoln made the early pressing and Crewe were glad Dave Richards was alert to sense the danger after Chris Maguire’s pass found Hakeeb Adelakun, with the keeper saving bravely at the feet of the striker.

Teddy Bishop’s deflected drive from the edge of the box just missed Richards’ top corner.

Mandron failed to deliver the finish a neat move deserved with Tom Lowery and Oli Finney combining to free the striker who drove blazed over the far corner.

But Mandron showed unerring accuracy with the two penalties awarded within a matter of minutes.

First, after a long free-kick into the visiting box Lewis Montsma was adjudged to have impeded Billy Sass-Davies.

Mandron fired the spot-kick high into the corner three minutes after half-time then beat Josh Griffiths again in the same corner shortly after.

Michael Appleton’s side wasted a chance to cut the deficit soon after when Adelakun dithered over his shot in front of Richards and then Maguire blasted the loose ball way over.

But Mandron was close to a third with Griffiths beating out his angled effort.