Gary O’Neil paid tribute to Mario Lemina after the midfielder missed Wolves’ impressive victory over Everton following the death of his father.
A third straight win for Wolves – for the first time in the Premier League for almost two years – saw them crush the Toffees 3-0.
The squad celebrated their goals – from Max Kilman, Matheus Cunha and Craig Dawson – with Lemina’s shirt with the midfielder having travelled to France to be with his family.
“We’re all enjoying today and then when you’re asked about Mario you get a sense of reality,” said O’Neil. “We’re here smiling and Mario is going through a really tough time. All our thoughts are with him.
“He was the first thing we spoke about afterwards. He is incredibly important to the team on the pitch and as a group around the place. There’s huge respect from the group for what he does. There’s no way we would be anywhere near 28 points without him.
“I’m 100 per cent serious when I say he can have as long as he needs. He has our full support and I hope him and his family can find some peace over the next few days.”
It condemned Everton to a third straight defeat and further highlighted Wolves’ rise under O’Neil. They were in the relegation zone at the end of 2022, but sit an impressive 11th a year later.
O’Neil added: “It was my favourite performance so far, it was as close to complete as we’ve had. Three games in six days is tough, but I’m delighted with the levels the lads managed to reach.”
Wolves – with nine goals in their last three games – are just one goal off last season’s tally of 31 and dominated from the start.
Hwang Hee-chan should have done better after a break from Cunha, but the hosts remained the aggressors and took the lead after 25 minutes.
James Tarkowski half-cleared a corner and when Cunha returned the ball from the right, Jordan Pickford produced a brilliant save to stop a Jarrad Branthwaite own goal – only for Kilman to scramble in the rebound.
It was just the captain’s second goal for Wolves – his other coming against Everton in November 2021 – and he celebrated by lifting Lemina’s shirt.
Everton were wretched and did not improve after the break, falling further behind after eight minutes when Cunha tapped in Hwang’s cross.
Hwang hit a post before Dawson added a third when he prodded in another Cunha centre.
Dwight McNeil’s drive rattled a post in Everton’s only moment of warning and Hwang and the returning Pedro Neto had goals disallowed as the hosts chased a fourth.
The Toffees sit fourth bottom, a point above the drop zone, having lost momentum following fourth straight wins earlier this month.
Boss Sean Dyche said: “They’ve had good results, especially at home, they played well and we were just off. I reminded the players they have come a long way and its only the second time we’ve been way off since Villa and that was the second game of the season.
“I don’t really like to question fixtures lists, but we know it’s a bit odd we have two league games until the end of January.
“When you are adding injuries it does get a bit more tough on the players. We put a lot into the last two performances and got nothing. You are wondering: ‘can they go again?’ and unfortunately we were left wanting.
“There’s a reality to what we all do. It’s not a lack of effort.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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