Raul Jimenez played 34 minutes with special headguard in 1-0 friendly defeat against Crewe Alexandra on Saturday; Mexico striker suffered a fractured skull against Arsenal last November, which required emergency surgery
Sunday 18 July 2021 17:29, UK
Raul Jimenez featured in his first game for Wolves on Saturday since fracturing his skull in November 2020.
Jimenez played from the start and was substituted after 34 minutes in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Crewe Alexandra at the Mornflake Stadium.
The Mexico striker clipped the crossbar with a deflected free-kick but failed to score in his first outing for eight months.
New Wolves boss Bruno Lage also gave a debut to Francisco Trincao following his move from Barcelona.
Jimenez, who now wears a specially-designed headguard for heading, full-contact training and matches, had returned to full pre-season training on Monday.
He was cleared to train fully back in May but had to wait until this week to be reunited with team-mates and meet new head coach Bruno Lage.
The 30-year-old received on-field treatment for 10 minutes and was carried off on a stretcher after an accidental clash of heads with Arsenal defender David Luiz last year.
Jimenez was given oxygen on the pitch before being taken to St Mary's Hospital Paddington, where he had emergency surgery for a major traumatic brain injury (TBI) and skull fracture.
Wolves signed Jimenez for £30m from Benfica in August 2019 after an initial season-long loan and he signed a new four-year deal last October.
He has scored 48 goals in a total of 110 appearances for the club in all competitions, netting four times in nine Premier League appearances last season before his injury.
Former Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo took charge of his first game as Tottenham boss, but Leyton Orient held the Premier League club to a 1-1 draw at The Breyer Group Stadium.
Dane Scarlett fired Spurs into the lead just before half-time - his first goal for the club. However, Ruel Sotiriou levelled for the League Two side.
Meanwhile, Patrick Vieira did enjoy a winning start as Crystal Palace manager as Wilfried Zaha scored the only goal in their friendly at Walsall.
Zaha opened the scoring after four minutes as Palace began life without former boss Roy Hodgson in solid style.
Elsewhere, Arsenal were held 2-2 by Rangers at Ibrox, while Brentford won 1-0 at Wimbledon thanks to Joel Valencia's first-half goal.
