Andrey Santos impressed on his debut for Manchester United, but the side fell 1-0 to Wrexham in a pre-season friendly in Helsinki. Sam Smith grabbed the only goal with a straightforward finish six minutes before the interval, shortly after heading the ball against his own crossbar while defending a corner.
United were without the players involved at the World Cup, among them new arrival Youri Tielemans, and Benjamin Sesko, yet Michael Carrick still sent out a strong starting XI in front of 20,000 fans.
Santos, the club’s first summer signing after his switch from Chelsea earlier in the week for a fee starting at £48m, lined up in the deep midfield position alongside Mason Mount.
Before the match, Carrick spoke highly of the Brazilian’s mindset, remarking: “He possesses a fantastic attitude. He has settled in so rapidly and is absolutely buzzing to be here.”
The 22-year-old quickly found his rhythm, showing a decent passing range and coming out on top in several duels during a lively performance. Wrexham, who had their first pre-season outing against Wisla Krakow the previous weekend, looked the more dangerous side and almost created a chance when Bailey Cadamarteri nicked the ball off Ayden Heaven before the defender recovered.
United’s first opening fell to Joshua Zirkzee, whose shot fizzed wide in the 24th minute, and they nearly took the lead when Smith, trying to clear a corner, headed against the bar in the 36th minute. Smith then put Wrexham ahead, tapping in after Lewis O’Brien’s cross seemed to slip between Harry Maguire’s legs.
All but one of the 22 players were replaced at half-time – only Wrexham’s Aaron James stayed on – and Carrick introduced a team of academy graduates to face a Wrexham outfit that included Conor Coady and Kieffer Moore.
United kept the ball but had difficulty carving out chances as the tempo fell. Wrexham went close with a low drive from Davis Keillor-Dunn, only for Radek Vitek to make the stop.
When Ethan Wheatley prodded Harry Amass’s cross goalwards in the 78th minute, it represented United’s first effort on target, but Dan Ward denied him and then comfortably claimed a low shot from Shea Lacey.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Heaton (Vítek, half-time); Yoro (Kamason, half-time), Maguire (Devaney, half-time), Heaven (Armer, half-time), Shaw (Amass, half-time); Mount (T Fletcher, half-time), Santos (Gore, half-time); Mbeumo (Lacey, half-time), J Fletcher (Collyer, half-time), Dorgu (Williams, half-time); Zirkzee (Wheatley, half-time)
Wrexham (3-4-2-1): Okonkwo (Ward, half-time); Vyner (Hyam, half-time), Scarr (Coady, half-time), Doyle (Brunt, half-time); A James (Moore, 70), M James (Rathbone, half-time), O’Brien (Dobson, half-time), Thomason (Ashfield, half-time); Smith (Barnett, half-time), Broadhead (Keillor-Dunn, half-time); Cadamarteri (Moore, half-time)
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