Manchester United beaten by Wrexham in Red Devils' opening match of pre-season
Manchester United have been beaten by Wrexham in their opening match of pre-season.
Listen to this article
Sam Smith scored the only goal with an easy finish six minutes before half-time, moments after heading against his own crossbar defending a corner to shock Michael Carrick's side.
United were without the players who have featured at this summer’s World Cup, including new signing Youri Tielemans, as well as Benjamin Sesko, but Carrick put out a strong starting XI in front of 20,000 spectators in Helsinki.
Andre Santos, who became United’s first summer signing when he joined from Chelsea at the start of the week for an initial £48million, took his place at the base of midfield alongside Mason Mount.
Read more: Britain's Josh Kerr sets world's fastest one mile time - beating 27-year record
Read more: UK heatwave to ease across weekend as parts of UK see longest unbroken run of days with no rain
The Brazilian’s first involvement was to clear the ball away after Tom Heaton failed to gather under pressure from Smith seconds into the game.
Santos was left on his backside by Lewis O’Brien eight minutes in but the chance came to nothing for Wrexham as the flag went up.
Phil Parkinson’s side, who played their first pre-season friendly against Wisla Krakow in Poland last weekend, were looking brighter and threatened again when Bailey Cadamarteri nicked the ball off Ayden Heaven on the edge of the box before the defender recovered.
Moments later Smith was on the scoresheet at the other end and it looked all too easy as he was left with a tap-in after O’Brien’s cross appeared to go through Harry Maguire’s legs.
Twenty-one of the 22 players were replaced at half-time, with only Wrexham’s Aaron James staying on, and Carrick sent out a side entirely composed of academy products, facing a decent test against a Wrexham side now including the likes of Conor Coady and Kieffer Moore.
United dominated the ball but struggled to fashion chances as the pace of the game dropped.
Dan Gore hit the deck in the single minute of stoppage time, but his optimistic penalty appeal was waved away.