Crewe boss Lee Bell was delighted to see his side end Mansfield’s unbeaten home record and strengthen their own promotion claims.
Joe White’s finish just over a minute into the game proved enough for Bell to make a winning return to his former club and prevent them going top of League Two.
And a second win of the week moved Alex to within five points of the automatic promotion places.
“That was a really hard-fought three points,” said Bell, who spent a year of his playing career with the Stags.
“We had to ride our luck at times which has been missing. But we didn’t give away any real clear-cut opportunities.
“Mansfield have not lost at home since April so this was a fantastic three points.
“Our gameplan worked for large parts and the players carried out their instructions without the football to a tee.
“The effort, fire and desire we showed was frightening. That’s what you need to do when you come to Mansfield. For me they are the best team in the league and have a bit of everything.
“We defended our box brilliantly to a man, blocking crosses, not allowing their man to get across us and the keeper coming up with saves when needed.
“We stood up to everything on the physical side, so credit to the players for showing another side to a Crewe team that I don’t think we have seen for a long time.”
Mansfield were punished for trying to play the ball out of their box under pressure after 75 seconds as they lost possession and Newcastle loanee White drilled home a low finish.
Lucas Akins should have quickly levelled but sent a free header wide from eight yard.
After that Crewe defended magnificently and goalkeeper Tom Booth saved superbly from George Maris and Stephen Quinn in the first half and, crucially, tipped over a Baily Cargill free-kick in stoppage time.
Mansfield boss Nigel Clough was upset by the early goal conceded and said: “We are bitterly disappointed to lose for only the second time in 24 games or not get even a point. Sometimes even a point at home is a good result.
“The goal we conceded after 90 seconds or so cost us the game today.
“I don’t know if complacency is the word, or sloppiness crept in.
“The reason we have the best defensive record in the league is that we don’t give goals away like that.
“The ball is in our penalty area, it goes away – it’s cleared, no second thoughts or questions whether it’s 90 seconds in or 90 seconds to go.
“That has been our principle and why we haven’t conceded.
“Maybe one or two are getting carried away with the result last week at Stockport. We certainly weren’t staff-wise. And we knew this would be a harder game in lots of ways.
“They are a good team in the top seven.
“I thought we were OK after the first 20 minutes and controlled the game.
“We put an awful lot of balls in the box and won a lot of corners. We just needed someone to finish one off or a break in the six-yard box which we didn’t get today.
“I think we deserved to level. But when you give any team a 1-0 lead almost from the start of the game it doesn’t half incentivise them and give them something to hang on to.”
Motta expects Juventus to be at '200%' for Turin derby
Thiago Motta is confident Juventus will be at full intensity for the Turin derby as they looked to close the gap on the Serie A leaders, Napoli.
Although Juve are the only team in the Italian top-flight who remain unbeaten, Motta's side lie sixth in the standings with 21 points after six draws in 11 games. Torino are 10th with 14 points.
A victory on Saturday would give Juventus an advantage, bringing them closer to leaders Napoli and second-placed Inter, who face each other on Sunday.
Juventus are unbeaten in their last 18 matches against Torino in Serie A (W13 D5), keeping a clean sheet in eight of these matches, including the two most recent. They are also unbeaten in 18 against their rivals on home soil in the league.
Motta, whose side drew 1-1 at Lille on Tuesday, said he is aware of what the rivalry means to the people of Turin ahead of his first 'Derby della Mole' as Juve coach.
"There are good feelings because I see the team doing well with the usual right attitude. There is a special atmosphere with our fans, and we want to give our best to play a great match," he told reporters.
"The importance of a derby is that the city lives it in an intense way, we will have to do our best to play a great game. Derbies, in general, are beautiful matches to play. Here I felt exactly that, and we will try to give great joy to our fans.
"The team is physically fine. We had three days of recovery and this makes the difference. I see the team and I have faith in everyone's commitment. Tomorrow we will enter the game at 200%."
However, Juve will be without Douglas Luiz, Nicolas Gonzalez and Vasilije Adzic, who are sidelined with injuries.
"Douglas Luiz came with us to Lille at my request to speed things up. Yesterday in training he still didn't feel great. So we won't risk him, and we'll see him again after the [international] break," Motta added.
"Nico Gonzalez won't be there. Adzic also had a problem and will need to be evaluated. He won't be there tomorrow."
Omoridion receives maiden Spain call-up
Spain have handed a first senior call-up to Samu Omorodion after a stellar start to the season with Porto for their upcoming Nations League matches.
The 20-year-old represented Spain at the Paris Olympics, netting once in his four appearances at the tournament.
Since joining Porto in August 2024, he has netted 11 goals in 11 matches in all competitions, netting seven of those in the Primeira Liga in seven appearances, averaging a goal every 68 minutes.
Barcelona's Marc Casado has also been added to Luis de la Fuente's squad after impressing with his appearances in the LaLiga leaders' midfield amid their injury struggles.
Casado has attempted the most passes (850) and completed more (729) than any other Barcelona midfielder in all competitions this term (90.6% success rate).
"At the age of 20, [Omorodion] has football potential. He burst onto the scene in a way that has attracted attention. It's time to give him continuity," De la Fuente told reporters.
On Casado, he added: "It's all thanks to his confidence, commitment and ability. There are very good players who need that kind of demand to shine. He is ready, but he still has room for improvement."
Spain captain Alvaro Morata is also part of the squad despite being rushed to hospital after suffering a head injury during Milan training, but De la Fuente insisted the 32-year-old was fine.
However, Pau Cubarsi has been left out after sustaining a facial injury during Barcelona's Champions League win on Wednesday.
Nations League holders Spain have already qualified for the quarter-finals but are yet to clinch top spot. They face Denmark on November 15 before finishing the group stage against Switzerland three days later.
Spain squad in full:
David Raya (Arsenal), Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad), Robert Sanchez (Chelsea), Pedro Porro (Tottenham), Oscar Mingueza (Celta Vigo), Daniel Vivian (Athletic Bilbao), Aymeric Laporte (Al-Nassr), Pau Torres (Aston Villa), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea), Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Aitor Paredes (Athletic Bilbao), Mikel Merino (Arsenal), Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Fabian Ruiz (PSG), Pedri (Barcelona), Dani Olmo (Barcelona), Alex Baena (Villarreal), Marc Casado (Barcelona), Alvaro Morata (Milan), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Yeremy Pino (Villarreal), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Ayoze Perez (Villarreal), Samu Omorodion (Porto), Bryan Zaragoza (Osasuna).
Kompany unbothered by modest scoreline as Bayern beat Benfica
Vincent Kompany was pleased with the way Bayern Munich attacked at home to Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday, despite only winning 1-0.
The victory ended a run of back-to-back defeats for the German team in the competition, leaving them 17th in the league with six points from four matches.
"It's important for us to win a game this way. In the past, we always scored three, four or five goals, but today we stayed calm," Kompany told the official club website.
"We had 24 shots on goal and the opposition had one. Not every finish was dangerous, but we controlled the game. There are games in which the last pass just isn't as precise as necessary.
"We know we can decide matches within the first five minutes if we're on good form. That didn't happen today. But in the end, it's the Champions League. It was a good game and a good win."
Midfielder Jamal Musiala scored the only goal of the game in the 67th minute, turning home Harry Kane's knockdown after Leroy Sane had played the ball across the box.
Sane is yet to start a game in any competition for Bayern this season, coming on in the 56th minute on Wednesday, but his contribution was not lost on Kompany.
"Obviously, I'm really happy to have the quality of Leroy Sane and Michael Olise in the same position - not to forget Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry. You can say Leroy turned this game around today," he said.
The goalscorer Musiala, meanwhile, was pleased after scoring his fifth goal in all competitions for the club this season.
“We had good moments, but the opposition played and defended well. Of course, there are still things we can improve, but it's important to have won the three points," he said.
"I don't know what's going on with me scoring headers at the moment. The ball dropped nicely for me a few times and I just keep trying to get into good positions I can score easy goals from.
"We all knew we had to win tonight and we did a good job. We had a tough time settling into the game, but we can't win by four or five goals every time. Sometimes a 1-0 win has to be enough.”
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