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League Two Wrexham defeat Manchester United in US

Wrexham striker Paul Mullin was taken to hospital with a punctured lung after a collision with goalkeeper Nathan Bishop.

San Diego (United States), 26/07/2023.- Wrexham's Sam Dalby celebrates with a teammate after scoring during the second half of a preseason friendly soccer match against Manchester United at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California, USA, 25 July 2023. (Futbol, Amistoso) EFE/EPA/ALLISON DINNER
ALLISON DINNEREFE

League Two side Wrexham recorded a memorable victory over Manchester United in San Diego, defeating Erik ten Hag’s young guns 3-1.

The Welsh team opened the scoring when Elliot Lee headed home. They doubled their lead soon after, making it 2-0 when Aaron Hayden netted for Phil Parkinson’s men. Marc Jurado scored in first-half injury time for United, before fellow teenager Dan Gore received his marching orders after the restart.

Wrexham got their third of the game in the 69th minute against a United side made up mostly of Under-21 players. In unfortunate news for the newly-promoted club, striker Paul Mullin was taken to hospital with a punctured lung after having collided with goalkeeper Nathan Bishop. Mullin required lengthy treatment and left the field of play with an oxygen mask and will now miss the start of the season following his collision with the 23-year-old netminder, who received a yellow card for the foul.

Parkinson furious

Wrexham boss Parkinson subsequently warned Bishop to “steer clear” of Wrexham following the “reckless” challenge. “It is a real blow for us, you can’t hide away from that. I thought it was a clumsy challenge from the goalkeeper and it should have been a straight red,” Parkinson said.

He added: “It was a dangerous challenge and Mulls is our talisman. I’m fuming with it, I have to be honest about that. It was a clumsy, reckless challenge in a pre-season game. I haven’t seen the goalie and he’s probably best steering clear of us for the time being because we’re not very happy.”

Bishop apologises

Bishop has since sent an apology to Mullin. “Just wanted to share my sincerest apologies to Paul Mullin. A complete misjudgement and a genuine accident with no malicious intent at all! Wishing you the speediest recovery and hope to see you back scoring goals as soon as possible!”

McElhenney present

Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney was there to witness his club’s victory in front of a sold-out 34,248 crowd at Snapdragon Stadium in California, however, fellow owner Ryan Reynolds was unable to attend the match.

Real Madrid next

Manchester United take on Spanish giants Real Madrid in their next pre-season friendly in Texas on Wednesday. The game between United and Madrid will be played on July 26 with kick-off at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT.