Las Palmas 3 Wolves 2 - Report

As new boss Bruno Lage looks to get his philosophy across, they scored two lovely goals through Ki-Jana Hoever and Morgan Gibbs-White.

Defensive errors, though, were present throughout as the Spanish second-tier outfit prevailed at the Marbella Football Center.

Both Ale Garcia and Adalberto Penaranda made Wolves pay for switching off before the break.

Lage’s pack picked things up in an attacking sense in the second half, with both Hoever and Gibbs-White finishing in style.

Those goals, though, came either side of Jese Rodriguez’s strike – on the back of another mistake – as Wolves failed to follow up on their 1-0 win over Real Betis.

Raul Jimenez was left out of the squad for this behind-closed-doors clash, which was originally due to take place in the morning but then moved to the evening.

Fresh face Yerson Mosquera started at centre-half in place of Willy Boly, who sustained an injury to his left leg in the Betis victory, while fellow summer signing Jose Sa was between the sticks.

Conor Coady – linking up with the squad in Spain after being a part of England’s run to the final of the Euros – watched on from the sidelines. Las Palmas, meanwhile, had ex-Wolves loanee Enzo Loiodice in their starting line-up.

Set up in a 4-4-2, although Rayan Ait-Nouri dropped in at times to make it a back five, Lage’s men pressed with good intent early on.

Patrick Cutrone won a free-kick in a promising area and blazed over the resulting delivery from Joao Moutinho, but the offside flag spared the Italian’s blushes.

Wolves continued to have decent spells of possession until the half-hour mark – when both teams had a drinks break in the Marbella heat.

Cutrone had looked busy up front while Mosquera caught the eye at the heart of defence, using his pace and power effectively and also being calm on the ball.

Las Palmas, though, threatened through Alberto Moleiro, forcing Sa to race across his lane and make a save.

And they would go on to punish Wolves for some sloppy defending to take a two-goal lead into the break.

Penaranda escaped the offside trap and while his side-footed shot was saved by Sa, the untracked Garcia was there to tap home the rebound.

Wolves had the chance to level things up swiftly as Ait-Nouri crossed the ball to Moutinho, who was unable to get a shot off.

However, in their pursuit of an equaliser, Lage’s charges left themselves exposed as Penaranda raced down the right flank and chopped inside onto his left foot – leaving Ruben Neves in the dust – before rolling the ball beyond Sa.

It was a poor way to finish the first period, but Wolves had more urgency about them at the start of the second. Lage made a flurry of changes and two of them combined superbly to pull a goal back.

Hugo Bueno danced his way past his marker on the left and floated over an inviting cross which was met with aplomb by Hoever – the Dutchman rippling the net with an emphatic volley.

From there, Wolves looked to dominate possession but having made so many changes, they lacked fluidity. Mosquera continued to look promising but it was not quite clicking in the final third.

Chem Campbell and Renat Dadashov replaced the front pair of Cutrone and Fabio Silva just before the 70-minute mark as Lage’s side searched for another goal.

Las Palmas, though, grabbed a third – capitalising on more slack play. Bueno, having done so well for Hoever’s goal, was guilty of a careless pass which was pounced upon by Jese. The former Real Madrid, PSG and Stoke man was left one-on-one with Ruddy and calmly tucked it away.

Wolves, to their credit, did come up with a reply pretty quickly.

Mosquera – the best player against former West Brom boss Pepe Mel’s outfit – played a delicious over-the-top ball to Gibbs-White, who held off his man and squeezed it in.

Max Kilman almost made it 3-3 late on but saw his attempt blocked.

Ultimately, there were some encouraging attacking moments and Mosquera – the only player to enjoy the full 90 minutes for Wolves – was thoroughly impressive.

Lage, though, will be keen to tighten things up before the Premier League season starts.

Wolves return to England in a couple of days ahead of friendlies at Stoke and Coventry on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Wolves (4-4-2): Sa (Ruddy, 45); Semedo (Hoever, 45), Mosquera, Saiss (Marques, 45), Marcal (Kilman, 45); Trincao (Cundle, 45), Moutinho (Dendoncker, 45), Neves (Gibbs-White, 45), Ait-Nouri (Bueno, 45); Silva (Campbell, 68), Cutrone (Dadashov, 68)

Subs not used: Sondergaard (gk), Moulden (gk), Perry, Estrada