Andrey Santos debuts as Manchester United lose pre-season friendly to Wrexham

Andrey Santos made his first Manchester United appearance as the club lost 1-0 to Wrexham in a pre-season friendly in Helsinki. The Brazilian, who joined from Chelsea, was part of a strong United starting XI selected by Michael Carrick.

Sam Smith scored the only goal six minutes before half-time with an easy finish. The goal came shortly after Smith had headed against his own crossbar while defending a corner. The match was played in front of 20,000 spectators.

What happened

Santos was handed an early opportunity to settle into his new surroundings and produced a bright first appearance for United. Carrick made changes at half-time as United searched for a response, but they were unable to find an equaliser against Wrexham.

United were without the players who had featured at the World Cup, including new signing Youri Tielemans and Benjamin Sesko. Despite those absences, Carrick fielded a notably strong starting line-up for the friendly.

• Wrexham beat Manchester United 1-0 in Helsinki.
• Sam Smith scored the only goal six minutes before half-time.
• Andrey Santos made his first United appearance after joining from Chelsea.
• United were missing World Cup participants, including Youri Tielemans and Benjamin Sesko.
• Michael Carrick changed his team at half-time.

The result is a pre-season setback rather than a competitive one, but it gave United an early look at Santos and other squad options. United will continue their pre-season preparations as Carrick assesses his players ahead of the new campaign.