Francois Zoko and Arquin both scored on their league debuts as 10-man County ended Crewe's 20-game unbeaten run, but the latter was shown a straight red card for a petutant kick on Crewe defender Ashley Westwood two minutes after scoring County's second.
Mathias Pogba pulled one back as Crewe sprang into life and the Magpies were hanging on by the end with Lee Hughes clearing Westwood's effort off the goalline.
Curle said: "Yoann has got all the attributes that cause defences problems, but I'm mindful of the fact that he's got a petulant streak in him.
"He's got to get used the the fact that the better he plays the more the other side will try and wind him up and he's got to learn to take that side out of his game.
"But we have a lot of new players in the squad and it's winning games with 10 men against a tough crowd like this that build team spirit. It was a competitive game that had everything and you have to give Crewe credit - this isn't an easy place to come to."
