West Ham 3 (Kudus 22 & 32, Bowen 74) Wolves 0
Wolves were made to pay for a poor performance at the London Stadium, as West Ham United comfortably brushed them aside by three goals to nil.
Gary O’Neil’s side were the architects of their own downfall with mistakes leading to all three goals. Wolves had chances to stop the counter attack before Mohammed Kudus fired home the opening goal and were cut apart after giving the ball away as the winger doubled his tally before the break.
A glimmer of hope came when the visitors started the second period well, but after VAR ruled out Pablo Sarabia’s attempt for a narrow offside, the game got away from them and Jarrod Bowen scored the third in the closing stages to wrap up the Hammers’ win.
Wolves have made a habit of conceding early of late but managed to keep things tight in the opening 20 and had sightings of goal themselves. Matheus Cunha drilled the first shot on target from a tight angle, with Lukasz Fabianski saving, while James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick was a simple catch for Dan Bentley, in for the injury Jose Sa.
However, on 24 minutes Wolves gave their opponents the impetus again. From a Sarabia corner, West Ham cleared and Lucas Paqueta won the 50-50 with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and they were away. Craig Dawson opted against the tactical foul, leaving Kudus against Nelson Semedo, and he came inside before drilling low in the near bottom corner.
As the visitors tried to respond, Joao Gomes won the ball high up the pitch and Cunha tested Fabianski, but the home side’s second was just around the corner. True to the first half trend, Wolves gave the ball away through Mario Lemina, and Paqueta’s one pass cut Wolves open, leaving Kudus clean through to slot beyond Bentley.
It was a first half to forget for Wolves, who were lucky to see Bowen’s effort come back off the inside of the post, after Gomes had lost possession. The half ended with Toti having a goal bound effort blocked by Edson Alvarez. Lots of work to do for O’Neil at the break.
Half-time | West Ham 2-0 Wolves
Wolves actually started the second half much better, keeping the ball and creating openings. Hee Chan Hwang had a shot blocked, before the ball found the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed. Wolves worked it nicely to Semedo and his drilled ball was converted by Sarabia, but, after a lengthy review, VAR disallowed the goal for the tightest of offsides.
O’Neil will no doubt assess that decision later, but he saw his players continue to look for an opening. Cunha shot over, before Lemina bent a strike off target, as the visitors continued to be frustrated.
Then, within the blink of an eye, the game was gone. Tomas Soucek robbed Cunha of possession and Bowen exchanged passes with Paqueta and was in a foot race with Craig Dawson. He got away from the former Hammer and slid a low effort across Bentley and into the corner.
With that goal went Wolves’ hopes of resurrecting the fixture. James Ward-Prowse fired a free-kick wide of the post, with the visitors unable to must any late attacks. Bouncing back will now be the aim ahead of a busy Christmas period.
Full-time | West Ham 3-0 Wolves
West Ham | Fabianski, Coufal (Kehrer 90), Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Alvarez (Fornals 70), Paqueta (Mubama 87), Kudus (Ings 87), Bowen.
Unused subs | Areola, Cresswell, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Benrahma.
Wolves | Bentley, Semedo (Doherty 80), Dawson, Kilman, Toti (Ait-Nouri 70), Lemina (Doyle 80), Gomes, Bellegarde, Sarabia, Hwang, Cunha.
Unused subs | King, H Bueno, S Bueno, Traore, Silva, Kalajdzic.
