Wolverhampton Wanderers play out draw with Empoli in Julen Lopetegui's first game

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 09 December 2022

Wolves play out draw with Empoli in Lopetegui's first game

Wolverhampton Wanderers play out a 1-1 draw with Empoli in a friendly in Marbella which marked Julen Lopetegui's first match in charge.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have played out a 1-1 draw in a friendly fixture in Marbella on Friday.

The match represented the first opportunity for newly-appointed head coach Julen Lopetegui to assess his players in a match situation ahead of their return to competitive action on December 20.

Wolves were ahead at half time courtesy of a Hugo Bueno strike, but Empoli found a leveller at the midway point of the second half through Sam Lammers.

As a result of Portugal reaching the World Cup quarter-finals, Wolves were without the trio of Jose Sa, Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes.

That led to starts for Matija Sarkic, Boubacar Traore and Joe Hodge, while Diego Costa made his first appearance in Wolves colours since his red card against Brentford on October 29.

The Premier League side's goal came in the 27th minute, Bueno taking the opportunity to get a shot away from the edge of the area to find the bottom corner.

🇪🇸🤝 pic.twitter.com/u2Q5mqvyR5
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 9, 2022

The second half and beyond became more about handing minutes to other members of the squad, with Toti Gomes and Rayan Ait-Nouri introduced at the break and Connor Ronan, Daniel Podence and Raul Jimenez following soon afterwards.

Hodge, Wolves' youngster player on the pitch, was given an extended run out and almost doubled his side's lead , only to see his effort go wide of the target after good work from Jimenez.

As more Wolves prospects entered the fray, Empoli grew stronger and found an equaliser through an excellent effort from Dutch forward Lammers, who had initially beat the Wolves offside trap.

The closing stages were marred by another brawl in a friendly involving Wolves, just five months on from the infamous battle of Benidorm with Levante which featured a number of red cards.

On this occasion, Podence appeared fortunate to avoid the same punishment, but the intervention of Lopetegui was preferred by the referee over dismissing the Portuguese winger.