Wolves captain Mario Lemina made the headlines following an outburst at full-time at the London Stadium.
Wolves’ 2-1 defeat to West Ham was too much for some to deal with, as club captain Lemina displayed after the final whistle.
Lemina was involved in an altercation with Jarrod Bowen stemming from a handshake, an incident that rapidly turned sour.
The 31-year-old did not only have afters with Bowen but also his own teammates, dragging Nelson Semedo, Toti Gomes and first-team coach Shaun Derry into the equation.
Jarrod Bowen of West Ham United clashes with Toti Gomes of Wolverhampton Wanderers during the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and W...
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Jarrod Bowen responds to Mario Lemina altercation
Wolves fans were disappointed by Lemina’s actions as the captain simply failed to control his emotion at full-time.
It’s ironic as before kick-off, Wolves were warned of being over-emotional, something that shone through after the final whistle.
While attention is on the captain, the fact remains that Wolves are not in a good place, sitting 19th and four points from safety.
The Old Gold were deflated at full-time while Julen Lopetegui was momentarily let off the hook, leaving the capital having handed the hosts a reason to smile.
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After the game, goalscorer Bowen reacted to his side’s win and shared his verdict on Lemina’s behaviour.
“I don’t think there’s any bad blood with what happened at the end,” the West Ham captain said, via West Ham’s official website.
“I wanted to shake his hand, as I think that’s the respectful thing for two captains to do after a game. I probably boiled over a bit at the end, with a bit of everything coming out, but it’s put to bed now and I’m just happy with the final result.”
It’s unclear what was said between the two players to spark such an outburst at full-time, with Lemina certainly walking away as the villain for spilling his anger towards his teammates.
What Gary O’Neil said about Lemina
Things are becoming messy at Wolves, as the club’s hierarchy plot to replace O’Neil once a suitable replacement is sounded out.
It’s not only the manager who is struggling, with the players also exposed to the ugly side of football, as seen through their own captain.
O’Neil showed his support for the skipper at full-time, putting the 31-year-old’s brawl down to heightened emotion.
“Mario’s calm now, he’s obviously a passionate guy,” O’Neil said, via Express and Star.
“Something that was said had upset him and then the instincts of all of the staff and players was to try and make sure that he didn’t get himself in trouble and that we had him available for Ipswich.
“Obviously he took a bit of calming down at that moment, but everything’s fine now. Staff, players, everyone understands that things like that can happen, especially in the heat at the moment.”
Wolves must move swiftly onto the must-win against Ipswich Town, where Lemina can redeem himself in front of a home crowd.
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