Carlisle saw their winless run in League Two extend to seven games as Crewe secure victory at Brunton Park.
The Cumbrians played with 10 men for most of the second half after Shaun Miller was sent off while goals from Callum Cooke and Jordan Bowery gave Crewe a third straight win.
Carlisle, without a goal in those seven games, started purposefully and Jamie Proctor, their on-loan Bolton striker, was denied an early goal by an offside flag.
However, Alex took the lead in the 34th minute when George Cooper's ball into the box found Cooke running clear and he cleverly steered the ball past Mark Gillespie from close range.
Carlisle went down to 10 men in the 51st minute when Miller was shown a straight red card for a foul on Oliver Turton.
Crewe made it 2-0 in the 61st minute when Cooper skipped past Luke Joyce to get to the byeline and Bowery at the far post was left with an easy tap-in.
The visitors should have had another in the closing minutes when Cooke was through on his own only to be denied by Gillespie.
Match support supplied by the Press Association.
