SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The friendly soccer match at Snapdragon Stadium between Wrexham and Manchester United turned unfriendly when one of the Wrexham players was injured in the first half and is recovering from a punctured lung Wednesday.
Wrexham won the match 3-1 against a Manchester United team made up of young prospects in the preseason game before 34,328 in attendance on Tuesday night.
Wrexham forward Paul Mullin was injured in the 11th minute when he collided with Manchester United goalkeeper Nathan Bishop. The collision resulted in a punctured lung for Mullin. He walked off the field slowly while wearing an oxygen mask and was taken to a hospital. Bishop was issued a yellow card for the dangerous play.
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson told CNN the puncture in Mullin's lung was small and the team did not know how long Mullin will be out for the team.
"It was a clumsy, reckless challenge in a preseason game and I'm not happy with it at all," Parkinson told CNN after the 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."
After the game, Bishop tweeted and apologized to Mullin.
"A complete misjudgement and a genuine accident with zero malicious intent at all!" he posted on Twitter. "Wishing you the speediest recovery and hope to see you back scoring goals as soon as possible!"
Wrexham's Elliott Lee scored in the 29th minute and Aaron Hayden in the 36th for a 2-1 lead at halftime. Manchester's Marc Jurado scored just before halftime. Sam Dalby scored on a header in the 69th for the final goal of the game.
The match was part of the Soccer Champions Tour exhibition series, featuring six of the world's most iconic football clubs in nine matches across the country, and was televised on ESPN2. The other teams on tour are Arsenal, FC Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid and AC Milan.
Manchester United was in the United States for the first time since 2018. For Wrexham, it is the first time in the club's history that they traveled to America.
In 2020, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the club and made a docuseries about its journey called, "Welcome to Wrexham."
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