Wolves’ “friendly” game with Levante close to abandonment following two mass brawls and four red cards

It was one of the most bizarre pre-season games you will ever see.
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Wolverhampton Wanderers’ pre-season friendly with Spanish Segunda Division Levante was close to being abandoned at half-time following a pair of mass brawls that resulted in four red cards.

Yerson Mosquera and Daniel Podence both received their marching orders for Wolves whilst Enis Bardhi and another unidentified player for the Spanish side were also dismissed.

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Four red cards, three goals and a whole host of nasty challenges was the story of the game. Not Rangers vs Celtic or Manchester United vs Liverpool. Wolves vs Levante, in a pre-season fixture.

The match was labelled a training excercise prior to kick-off, something that was meant to be even less competitive than your traditional friendly - but that was far from the case.

Levante were flying in with heavy challenges from the first whistle and a few near-misses really set the tone for what turned into an incredibly feisty first 45.

And it was Bardhi that really ignited the fire just after the half-hour mark.

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Less than a minute after the Spanish side had taken the lead through Roger Marti, Macedonian midfielder Bardhi lunged in with a late tackle on Mosquera which resulted in the first of two mass brawls.

Mosquera reacted badly to the challenge which is unsurprising following his recent return from a long-term injury - and this led to a big skirmish involving players, substitutes and staff next to the Levante dugout.

Both were dismissed for the part they played and after a five-minute break with things seemingly having cooled down, the game resumed.

The contest was back underway for a grand total of two minutes before things kicked off all over again.

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Daniel Podence reacted to something off the ball in the centre of the field and this led to everyone running onto the pitch for round two.

Two more red cards were brandished in the middle of the crowd, one for Podence and one for another Levante player who is still yet to be identified.

The referee then chose to make the wise decision and blow for half-time early to allow everyone to regroup and there was a strong consensus that that would be that with nine-a-side in a friendly game not really benefitting anyone.

Both teams did however return for the second-half with both agreeing, along with the officials, that they could restart with 11-a-side once more.

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We restarted, Levante made it 2-0 with a great strike before Toti Gomes pulled one back in the 82nd minute.

Full-time was blown for on 85 minutes because why not and that was all she wrote.

The result was irrelevant over the course of the game for Wolves who will be grateful they escaped with everyone still in one piece.

Bruno Lage’s men take on Besiktas on Saturday before facing Villarreal B the morning after to round off their trip to Spain.

First-half. Wolves (4-3-3): Smith; Mosquera [red card], Collins, Gomes, Bueno; Dendoncker, Ronan, Corbeanu; Gibbs-White, Podence [red card], Cundle

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