Although billed as a behind closed doors training match, Wolves versus Levante turned into one of the most eventful pre-season games in memory as the teams went head-to-head in Benidorm.
Four red cards before the break were the key talking points of a fiery first-half which was full of close to the knuckle challenges, while two goals either side of the break saw an under-strength old gold team forced to fight from behind.
Wolves were able to half the deficit late on with a goal on 82 minutes as Toti climbed highest in the box to head home.
Despite the game being very much a training exercise for both sets of players, there were some hefty challenges going in early doors, with Yerson Mosquera taking a whack from Roger Marti Salvador.
The first opportunity on goal for either team came from an indirect free-kick following a Levante back pass. With all the Spanish side’s players on the line, Morgan Gibbs-White, captain for the morning, was unable to fire his powerful effort on target.
In an opening half that was void of too much goalmouth action, Wolves were limited to shots from distance, with both Daniel Podence and Leander Dendoncker letting fly from distance and making Levante stopper Joan Femenias scramble across his goal but missed narrowly wide.
Former Tottenham Hotspur and Valencia forward Roberto Soldado, leading the line for Levante, had the first opportunity to open the scoring for his side, but his effort from the edge of the box flew well over Jackson Smith’s crossbar.
Moments later, Levante did take the lead as Roger was picked out by a long ball over the Wolves defence and having controlled the ball and bared down on Smith’s goal, he directed a neat finish into the bottom right corner.
Just before the break, chaos erupted as Mosquera took another heavy challenge, but the defender reacted, earning himself a red card. This led to the Levante substitutes and coaching staff race onto the field in response, followed by the Wolves men on the sidelines, and the referee also pulled out his red card for Enis Bardhi.
Once tempers were settled, the game continued, and Wolves came close to an equaliser when Luke Cundle was picked out inside the Levante penalty area, but the midfielder – while being sandwiched by two defenders – was unable to direct the ball on target.
Both sides finished the half with nine men after Daniel Podence saw red after he reacted to another tough tackle, leading to more unsavoury scenes on the field as the referee blew for half-time.
Half-time | Wolves 0-1 Levante
The game restarted after a short break with both sides allowed to return to 11-a-side, with Lage making a raft of changes to his Wolves line-up. On came senior pros in Conor Coady and Willy Boly, together with some of the favourite names from James Collins’ under-21s, such as Dexter Lembikisa, Harvey Griffiths and Joe Hodge.
Despite the feisty ending to the first-half, the players didn’t seem to have learnt any lessons as the challenges continued to be coming in hard, especially from the Spanish outfit, with Hodge being pulled to the ground having made a clever turn.
With the first bit of true quality in the second period, Levante doubled their lead. There was nothing Wolves could do to stop Giorgi Kochorashvili’s effort from 20 yards out, as he hit a sweetly struck finish into the top corner and past Smith’s outstretched arms.
Similar to the previous evening’s clash with Alaves, the heat and substitutions were having an impact on the flow of the practice match as it reached the final half an hour. The players in gold and black came from a free-kick which was kept alive by Toti, before being lifted back into the penalty area, but Boly was unable to direct the ball goalbound.
Having done well for the previous effort, Toti was the man to find the back of the net with less than 10 minutes remaining. A Connor Ronan corner was lifted into the box, and the defender leapt like a salmon in the area and directed a bullet header into the back of the net.
Full-time | Wolves 1-2 Levante
Wolves | Smith, Mosquera (Lembikisa 46), Collins (Toti 64), Toti (Boly 46), Bueno, Dendoncker (Ronan 64), Ronan (Griffiths 46), Cundle, Podence (Hodge 46), Gibbs-White (Coady 46), Corbeanu.
Unused subs | Sarkic, Storer, Jonny, Kilman, Ait-Nouri, Neves, Moutinho, Campbell, Neto, Jimenez.
Levante | Femenias, Rober Pier, Soldado, Roger, Malsa, Vezo, Brugui, Pubill, Melero, Saracchi, Toni Herrero.
Subs | Campos, Son, Franquesa, Martinez, Pepelu, Cantero, Postigo, Giorgi, Gomez, Leal, Munoz, Mustafi, Bardhi, Blesa, Campana, Joni Montiel.
