Wrexham drop first League Two match in eight-goal thriller

Wrexham suffered a defeat in their first match back in League Two on Saturday.

Despite playing in front of their home crowd, as well as co-owner Rob McElhenney and actor Hugh Jackman, the Welsh club dropped their opening match of the League Two season. MK Dons toppled Wrexham 5-3 on the day.

The Red Dragons entered the match without their star striker Paul Mullin. The Englishman scored an incredible 38 goals in 46 league appearances for the club last season.

Nevertheless, Mullin suffered a punctured lung during a preseason matchup with a young Manchester United team. The striker is currently staying Stateside at McElhenney’s house until he can travel back to Wales.

Visitors came out swinging in opening 10 minutes

MK Dons struck first inside six minutes of the match thanks to an own goal by Wrexham defender Eoghan O’Connell. The center back accidentally headed the ball into his own net after Ethan Robson sent a cross towards the back post of the goal.

The visitors would then pile the pressure on to the newly promoted Welsh side by hitting the post just a minute later. While Wrexham escaped that threat, the Dons would add another goal inside 10 minutes of the match. Jonathan Leko set up the strike as Mohamed Eisa just narrowly beat Wrexham goalkeeper Ben Foster to the ball.

Wrexham would, however, grab a goal back just before the halftime break. Defender Jacob Mendy halved the deficit with a strike in the 42nd minute. Despite being down at the break, the home side recorded 62% possession and held a significant 10 to four shot advantage in the opening period.

Wrexham frustrated in their return to League Two

Nevertheless, Leko would add a third goal for the Dons in the 51st minute. After enduring some pressure by Wrexham, the visitors moved the ball back up the pitch in their favor. Robson found Leko going forward and the attacker hit a perfect shot into the bottom corner of Foster’s goal.

Leko scored his second goal of the game 13 minutes later. Eisa found his teammate with a clever ball behind the Wrexham defense. The winger beat his defender and then sent a lethal shot passed Foster to complete his brace.

The hosts would grab their second goal of the game just eight minutes from the full-time whistle. Substitute Bryce Hosannah, having only been on the pitch for three minutes, set up Jordan Davies for the goal. Davies hit a wonderful strike from the edge of the box to give his club a boost moving forward.

The two teams then traded goals in added time to make the scoreline 5-3. Wrexham had 23 total shots in the game, nearly three times the amount that MK Dons recorded.

Wrexham will try to grab their first points of the 2023/24 season when they face Wimbledon next weekend.

However, the Red Dragons are first set to start their League Cup campaign at home to Wigan on Tuesday, August 8th. The cup match will be available to stream Stateside on ESPN+ at 3PM (ET).

Photo credit: IMAGO / PA Images