Man Utd goalkeeper punctures lung of Wrexham's Paul Mullin during friendly
- Inexperienced Man Utd side lose 3-1 to Wrexham in pre-season friendly
- Wrexham star Mullin substituted early on with punctured lung
- Red Devils later reduced to ten men in fiery encounter
By Sean Walsh
Manchester United goalkeeper Nathan Bishop has been criticised after puncturing the lung of Wrexham striker Paul Mullin during a pre-season friendly on Tuesday night.
A young Red Devils side were beaten 3-1 by the Red Dragons in San Diego as part of their respective tours of the US.
Erik ten Hag insisted prior to Saturday's win against Arsenal that his teams do not play 'friendly games', and that ominous warning came back to bite his side during Tuesday's loss.
Wrexham talisman Mullin, who is now a global star following their meteoric rise into the spotlight, had to be withdrawn early in the contest after colliding with Bishop when chasing a loose ball.
Mullin suffered a punctured lung and was swiftly taken to hospital, while Bishop was booed by portions of the Snapdragon Stadium until he was withdrawn at half-time.
A fiery affair then saw Man Utd midfielder Dan Gore sent off for a dangerous challenge on Wrexham's Andy Cannon.
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Speaking post-match, Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson revealed his disgust at Bishop's challenge and fury that Mullin will now miss the start of their first season back in League Two.
"I'm fuming about it, I've got to be honest with you,” Parkinson said. "It was a clumsy, reckless, challenge in a pre-season game and I'm not happy with it at all. 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.
"It's a clumsy challenge from the goalkeeper, I'm disappointed with that. It should have been a straight red. If it's not denying a goal-scoring opportunity it's still a dangerous challenge so if you add the two scenarios together he should have been off the pitch. It's a dangerous challenge and obviously Paul Mullin is our talisman."
Though Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag was in attendance, they were led by Under-21 coach Travis Binnion on the night.
Speaking on the incident, Binnion said: "Obviously there's a challenge in the first half when Mullin gets injured, we hope he's all right. I know Bish has reached out to him already and the referee could have sent him off for that."
Bishop later posted an apology to Mullin on social media, writing: "Just wanted to share my sincerest apologies... A complete misjudgement and a genuine accident with 0 malicious intent at all!"
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