Report | West Ham 2-1 Wolves

Wolves faced a tough setback in the capital, marking their third consecutive loss, as they fell 2-1 to West Ham United. The deciding goal came from Jarrod Bowen, who scored 18 minutes before the final whistle.

Following a closely contested first half, Wolves maintained their troubling trend of allowing goals from set pieces as Tomas Soucek scored with a well-placed header. Gary O’Neil’s team then had two strong appeals for penalties dismissed by VAR, sandwiched between a couple of additional goals, with one scored by each team.

Matt Doherty briefly brought Wolves back on equal terms by skillfully finishing off a cross from Rayan Ait-Nouri. However, just three minutes later, Bowen found himself with too much room to regain the lead for West Ham, and they managed to maintain that advantage for the rest of the match.

In contrast to the match at Goodison Park last week, the opening half was closely contested, with both teams displaying signs of tension. After a cautious first 20 minutes, Wolves started to assert themselves, with Mario Lemina firing a shot over from long range and Joao Gomes directing a strike right at Lukasz Fabianski.

The Hammers had their first opportunity with a shot from their captain, Bowen. However, Sam Johnstone, who was brought back into the lineup, made a solid save with his feet. On the other hand, Fabianski managed to stop a weak shot from Matheus Cunha that was directed at the near post.

The clearest opportunity of the half occurred in the 32nd minute, but Wolves missed out. Gomes, Jorgen Strand Larsen, and Cunha combined well to set Doherty free on the right. His cross found Gomes perfectly, but he could only send his shot wide of the back post.

Just two minutes later, West Ham had their biggest chance as well. Mohammed Kudus took a shot that curved towards the goal, forcing Johnstone to dive at full length. Although the goalkeeper managed to deflect the ball, Soucek was unable to capitalize on the rebound and failed to put it in the net.

In the final moments of the half, Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo both saw their attempts stop by defenders as Wolves gained confidence. Doherty also had several chances but West Ham’s frantic defending kept the score at 0-0 as they headed into halftime.

Half-time | West Ham and Wolves are tied at 0-0.

Set pieces have been a significant weakness for Wolves throughout the season, so it was no shock that West Ham scored their first goal in that manner. Bowen delivered a deep corner that reached Soucek at the back post, and his header was directed back across the goal, arcing over a crowded penalty area and into the net.

As the Hammers sought to capitalize on their momentum, Kudus had a goal disallowed due to an offside call. VAR got involved in that situation, but it didn’t step in for Wolves when they appealed for penalties twice—first when Goncalo Guedes was pushed, and later when Jean-Ricner Bellegarde seemed to be tripped.

Wolves briefly equalized with a brilliant goal, thanks to the efforts of their two wing-backs. Ait-Nouri made a great advance on the left side and delivered a cross that Doherty connected with, skillfully scoring from close to the penalty spot with his left foot.

Similar to their match against Bournemouth, Wolves' joy was quickly overshadowed. When Guedes let Bowen cut inside onto his left foot, the Old Gold found themselves in a tough spot. Bowen expertly curled the ball into the bottom corner, slipping it past Johnstone's dive.

The visitors continued to push forward, and both Lemina and Tommy Doyle had chances they could have handled better. Lemina's shot was saved by Fabianski, while Doyle sent his effort over the bar despite being in a good position.

As the game came to an end, opportunities didn’t improve for Wolverhampton, even though they tried their hardest. They headed home with yet another painful loss added to their record.

Final Whistle | West Ham 2-1 Wolverhampton

West Ham | Fabianski, Wan-Bissaka, Kilman, Mavropanos, Emerson (Cresswell substituted in at 88 minutes), Soucek, Alvarez (Todibo substituted in at 88 minutes), Soler (Paqueta substituted in at 64 minutes), Kudus (Rodriguez substituted in at 87 minutes), Bowen, Summerville (Ings substituted in at 73 minutes).

Bench Players | Areola, Coufal, Fullkrug, Guilherme.

Wolves | Johnstone, Doherty, Semedo, Bueno, Toti, Ait-Nouri (replaced by R Gomes in the 86th minute), Lemina, Andre (substituted by Bellegarde in the 62nd minute), J Gomes (taken off for Doyle in the 78th minute), Cunha, Strand Larsen (swapped out for Guedes in the 62nd minute).

Unused substitutes: Bentley, Dawson, Lima, Forbs, Hwang.