Lemina dedicates goal & man-of-the-match vs Chelsea to ill father in hospital

Wolves midfielder has Mario Lemina has dedicated his goal and man-of-the-match performance against Chelsea to his father.

The Gabon international opened the scoring for Gary O'Neil's side before Matt Doherty doubled their lead in a 2-1 win.

Lemina revealed in a post-match his father has been hospitalised with an illness for two months before accepting a man-of-the-match award from team-mate Doherty.

'By the way I wanted to pass a message to my dad. He is in hospital, for two months now,' an emotional Lemina told Sky Sports.

'He is struggling a lot and my family are around him now. I wanted to be with him, but I need to do my work.

'Dad - Keep pushing! We are all together.'

Lemina opened the scoring at Molineux with a header from a corner six minutes after the break - his third league goal of the season.

Doherty doubled Wolves' lead with a close-range finish in injury-time following a mistake from Chelsea defender Benoit Badishile.

The hosts side were given a scare when Christopher Nkunku headed home his first goals for the visitors on his Premier League debut but managed to see out the game.

O'Neil heaped praise on Lemina and midfield partner Joao Gomes after the match. He said: 'It was an incredible performance from both.

'Mario, we know is capable of big, big performances. Physically he was incredible and he led the team well, making good decisions with the ball. It was a top midfield performance.

'Joao, for a lad his age to put in that sort of performance, it was a big performance. Apart from being tackled by Sterling when the whole team were in front of him, his performance was flawless.'

Wolves now sit level on points with Chelsea in 11th and will return to action on Wednesday night against Brentford.