Cioffi: Cup matters to Crawley - 7M sport

Cioffi: Cup matters to Crawley



Posted Wednesday, August 14, 2019 by PA

Cioffi: Cup matters to Crawley

Crawley manager Gabriele Cioffi said his side drew on their rich cup history to beat Walsall 3-2 and seal a Carabao Cup second round clash with Premier League Norwich.

A powerful header from Tom Dallison was sandwiched by close-range finishes from Filipe Morais and debutant Ashley Nadesan as Crawley progressed to round two for the first time in five years.

The Red Devils reached the fifth round of the FA Cup in 2011 and 2012 and Cioffi was delighted after making seven changes for the home match against the Saddlers.

He said: “I’m pleased because before the game we said ‘let’s get through this round and go back to the history that made Crawley great and have the chance to play a Premier League club’ – and that is what happened.

“I think we are showing we are a strong squad with 26, 27 players who can all play in the starting XI. There were good performances from players who did not play in the last game.

“They showed that we can rely on them. Standard, consistency and competition – in any club, if you want to be successful, you have to have these pillars.

“They were hungry and angry to show they want a starting XI shirt every day.”

Walsall trailed 2-0 and 3-1 with a Caolan Lavery brace – a penalty after Crawley keeper Michael Luyambula fouled Mat Sadler and a fine first-time finish – twice getting them back in it.

Cameron Norman shaved the bar with a late volley but Saddlers boss Darrell Clarke fumed: “It wasn’t good enough for me.

“I thought the effort and endeavour was there but that is the minimum standard we are going to be setting at this football club.

“It was naive, we got back into the game and then conceded a goal a minute and 30 seconds after that. We got a bit of momentum and killed it.

“To be fair to Crawley they looked dangerous on the counter-attack. But for me, we have got to be better as a group.

“We are thoroughly disappointed to be out of the cup. I thought we were very naive out there.”



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