Last-gasp strike Black Cats after Rescues point for poor performance
from eight yards.
Sunderland’s defence was all at sea, with Crewe looking likely to score every time they cam forward.
And in the 38th minute they gave themselves a two-goal cushion, when the Black Cats were opened up yet again and this time Mandron popped up on the right side of the box to drive the ball low across the face of goal, and Lowery was there to guide it home from six yards out.
Gooch sent a long-range shot straight at the keeper and Scowen saw an effort from the edge of the box deflected wide for a corner, but Sunderland were not even in the contest at half-time.
As the game neared the half-hour mark, there was no sign of Sunderland finding a route back into it and Johnson reacted by making a quadruple substitution.
He sent on Jones, Leadbitter, Maguire and Jack Diamond, in place of Gooch, O’brien, Aiden Mcgeady, and Callum Mcfadzean.
Leadbitter’s involvement lasted just seven minutes, however, with the midfielder falling awkwardly and immediately it was clear he was in some distress.
It looked like a dislocated shoulder, and after lengthy treatment he trudged slowly off the pitch, with Carl Winchester replacing him.
Sanderson made a brilliant block from Lowery, when a third goal would have killed the game.
Sunderland pulled a goal back on 76 minutes with a moment of individual brilliance from Jones. He picked up the ball on the left touchline, cut inside and executed a stepover before unleashing a drive which flew into the top right-hand corner.
Sunderland should have levelled just a minute later when Luke O’nien got on the end of Maguire free-kick, but he nodded just wide. Only an excellent save from Burge prevented Crewe finishing the game off in injury-time, with the keeper at full stretch to claw Mandron’s attempted lob up into the air and Sanderson got back to complete the clearance.
And that set the stage for Maguire, whose rocket shot from 25 yards left Richards no chance.
Sunderland could even have nicked all three points right at the death, with Winchester heading a Maguire free-kick onto the roof of the net.
PADDY Mcnair rescued a point as Middlesbrough kept their top six hopes alive against rivals Cardiff City.
Here’s the game at a glance:
THE GOALS
37 minutes: Predictable, as Cardiff lead from a long throw, Sean Morrison heading home.
82 mins: Paddy Mcnair turns home after Akpom’s knock-down.
THE TACTICS
Neil Warnock and Mick Mccarthy know each inside out but the visiting boss will have been surprised at his friend nudging Paddy Mcnair forward into midfield.
After much press room deliberation, it was decided the formation was something like 3-1-4-2. It was fluid, with the defence and Mcnair man marking.
And they did a good job of stifling Cardiff, whose only efforts on target were an early free-kick and the goal.
Boro lacked a spark up-top until the second half substitutes.
THE GAME-CHANGING MOMENT
The pivotal moment in this most important of games came with 20 minutes left and was one short but match-deciding conversation.
Marcus Tavernier’s return to the side was a huge boost for Boro but after eight matches out of action, Warnock planned to replace the midfielder after 70 minutes.
That was until Tavernier insisted he was fine to continue.
And little more than 10 minutes later, Tavernier’s block in the box when Aden Flint tried to clear kept the ball alive and Chuba Akpom nodded down for Paddy Mcnair to turn home.
It rescued Boro the point they deserved and needed to keep their top six hopes alive.
THE KEY PLAYER
Neeskens Kebano was on the pitch less than 20 minutes but provided Boro with the spark they needed.
Despite Boro seeing all of the ball
and doing all of the probing in the second half, too often they went high and long. Kebano, though, got it down, buzzed around and made Cardiff think.
And he played a key role in the leveller, over-lapping Djed Spence and crossing for Tavernier, Akpom and Mcnair to combine.
No wonder Warnock was so keen to praise Kebano in his post-match press conference.