Grimsby boss Paul Hurst criticised the referee for allowing play to continue for Wrexham’s opening goal after a head injury as he was left to question what could have been.
First-half headers from Ollie Palmer and Will Boyle put Wrexham two up before Elliot Lee’s second-half strike secured the 3-0 victory for the Dragons.
The opening goal came after Grimsby’s Harvey Rodgers went down in the box with a head injury, but rose to his feet after referee David Rock allowed play to continue.
Lee then crossed for Palmer to score, having been played onside by Rodgers, and Hurst took aim at the referee for the call and felt it had a big impact on the game.
He said: “The first goal was disappointing because Harvey is not lying, he’s got a head knock, he’s on the floor and ultimately it was Harvey who played them on to be able to score.
“He’s got up and you can see he’s took a knock certainly, he’s not lying, and the referee didn’t stop the game.
“In the end, that cost us and put us on the back foot, first goals can be important and who knows what would have happened otherwise, but I’m frustrated with that decision certainly because there were a couple of other moments in the game where he’s stopped play when there were injuries that were not head injuries.
“It didn’t feel like it was a 3-0 in general but towards the end clearly confidence was up when they’re bringing the players on of the calibre they have and then it got difficult at that stage.”
The Dragons consolidated their early place in the play-offs with a third successive win, but Wrexham assistant Steve Parkin was most pleased by the clean sheet against a good Mariners side.
He said: “It was good because we were playing against a good team and we know that Hursty’s teams are always well organised and they’ve had a good start to the season.
“I think we’ve been striving and looking for a real solid workmanlike (performance) but with good football in it. We’ve not quite had it in long periods but today I thought we were really good.
“We had a couple of games here where we were really disappointed about the goals we conceded but we’ve worked long and hard, the manager and the staff with the lads and video analysis and also on the pitch, at why we looked as though we were conceding those early goals in the early games.
“The lads have put it into practice and that was the most pleasing thing for me today – a clean sheet against a good team.”
Bayern Munich 3-0 Augsburg: Hat-trick hero Kane smashes Bundesliga record
Harry Kane scored a hat-trick to become the quickest player to score 50 Bundesliga goals as Bayern Munich comfortably dispatched Augsburg 3-0 on Friday.
Kane opened the scoring in the 63rd with a penalty before netting a quickfire double in second-half stoppage time to smash the record previously held by Erling Haaland.
Despite controlling the early possession, Bayern were unable to make their dominance count, with Nediljko Labrovic rarely troubled in the opening 45 minutes.
The hosts maintained their dominance after the interval, with Leon Goretzka's looped header grazing the crossbar before Jamal Musiala went close soon after.
However, Bayern were awarded a penalty after a lengthy VAR review saw Mads Pedersen penalised for handling the ball, with Kane stepping up to score from 12 yards.
The England captain grabbed his second of the game in the third-minute of stoppage time following another VAR review which saw Keven Schlotterbeck sent off after tripping Kane inside the box.
Kane sent Labrovic the wrong way but was not to be denied a fourth treble of the season, brilliantly taking down Goretzka's searching ball before heading the ball home.
Data Debrief: HurriKane
Kane has now scored 50 Bundesliga goals in 43 matches. Before him, Haaland was the quickest player to reach 50 Bundesliga goals, having done so in 50 appearances in the competition for Borussia Dortmund.
He is also the quickest to reach that total for Bayern by some distance. Kane has reached that tally quicker than the likes of Gerd Muller (83 games), Mario Gomez (71 games), Roy Makaay (67 games) and Robert Lewandowski (64 games).
10 of Kane’s goals have come from penalties, while 32 of them have been with his right foot, nine with his left and nine with his head.
Messi 'will be our No.10 in 2026', hopes Inter Miami chief Mas
Inter Miami fully expect Lionel Messi to remain at the club beyond his current contract ahead of the 2026 MLS season.
Those were the words of Miami's club managing owner, Jorge Mas, who was speaking to the media following Gerardo Martino's resignation earlier on Friday.
Messi joined the MLS side in July 2023 on a two-and-a-half-year contract, leading the Herons to the Supporters' Shield and Leagues Cup during his time in the United States so far.
His current deal is due to expire at the end of next year, though Mas made clear his desire to see Messi remain with the Herons at Miami Freedom Park, the club's new stadium that will open in 2026.
"He’s under contract through 2025. Leo and I will sit, and we’ll discuss the future,” Mas said.
“As I’ve said before, and I will repeat it now: I fully expect that in the opening of our new stadium in 2026 in Miami and the opening of our 2026 season, hopefully after a trophy-laden 2025 season, that Lionel Messi will be our No. 10.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
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