Chelsea and Wrexham stars in furious brawl just two minutes into pre-season friendly

Chelsea faced Wrexham in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday night with both sides are currently on a tour of the United States, but the game was marred by an early brawl

Chelsea’s defender, Levi Colwill, and Wrexham’s forward, James McClean, had to be separated by officials, team-mates and coaches after a brawl erupted just two minutes into Wednesday’s pre-season friendly.

The incident appeared to come out of nowhere, with Chelsea safely maintaining possession in their own half. However, as Colwill passed the ball to fellow defender Benoit Badiashile, McClean lunged in and was immediately confronted by the Chelsea star.

Colwill aggressively grabbed McClean’s shirt by the collar and the pair began to wrestle, refusing to let go until players and coaches rushed in to break things up.

Neither player received any further punishment for the incident, with the referee keeping his cards in his pocket due to the game being a friendly. It was an unexpected start to Chelsea’s US tour, where they are set to face Celtic, Club America, Real Madrid and Manchester City.

It also marked a fiery start to Enzo Maresca’s reign, in what was his first official game in charge since leaving Leicester and replacing Mauricio Pochettino.