West Brom friendly descends into chaos as star trades punches with Mallorca ace in fierce brawl
FANS hoping for a little more aggression from West Brom, following last season’s playoff heartbreak, got exactly what they wanted in the Baggies’ pre-season friendly against Mallorca.
Midfielder Jayson Molumby was involved in heated bust-up after lashing out and PUNCHING his opponent in the face.
The Ireland international, 24, reacted to a second – but professional – challenge from Portuguese midfielder Samu Costa.
The heated pair exchanged some choice words before pushing their heads together as Costa pushed Molumby’s neck away in retaliation.
This ignited fury in the West Brom star who immediately landed a huge right hook, before wrestling Costa to the floor in shocking scenes.
A brawl then descended as both sets of team-mates attempted to rip the pair apart.
John Swift was the first Baggies star to intervene, and could be seen reaching over the heated duo, before the referee and linesmen got involved.
The incident occurred in the 40th minute with the score goalless at West Brom’s Walsall training ground in the West Midlands.
Both sides agreed to end the first half two minutes early to allow tempers to cool and neither player was sent-off.
Yet both Molumby and Costa were removed by their managers during the break.
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And English and Spanish fans were left stunned as the clips circulated social media.
Taking to X, one wrote: “This is a friendly match. Why are the players fighting?”
A second said: “There’s nothing friendly about this preseason game between West Brom and Mallorca.”
While another added: “Wow. I can’t remember the last time I saw actual closed fists thrown on a football pitch.”
Meanwhile, it Molumby’s first start since January after the midfielder was forced to undergo foot surgery.
It comes just days after Chelsea’s Levi Colwill and Wrexham’s James McClean clashed early on in their pre-season 2-2 draw in America.
However, they only pushed each other’s shirt before being pulled away and didn’t go as far as Molumby did.