Premier LeagueWest Ham United 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Saturday, 7th December 2024
by Chris Wilkerson | Forum match thread
With his job on the line, Julen Lopetegui got enough of a performance out of his team to see off Wolves this Monday evening, West Ham winning 2-1 on an emotional night.
Both goals and the victory were dedicated to Michail Antonio as the West Ham striker recovers in hospital after the horrific car accident that had the football world in shock this Saturday.The victory may well have kept the manager in the job, even if the performance did little to convince of his long term suitability or stability. In the opposite dugout, former Hammer Gary O'Neil may have seen his last game in charge of his team.
Two set-piece goals defended terribly were exactly the gifts The Hammers needed, having dominated much of the game but failed to make quality chances. Wolves, on the other hand, had some dangerous moments and will feel unlucky not to have been awarded two penalties, but never sustained any pressure on a shaky West Ham defence. In a game it looked would be the last for the losing manager, O'Neil's side never threatened to win.
Lopetegui made two changes to the side who had been so humbled by Leicester last week, with Emerson returning at left back and Summerville replacing Ings, moving Bowen up top. It meant Paqueta was pushed to the bench once more, seemingly behind Soler in the pecking order.
The Hammers warmed up and entered the pitch with special Antonio shirts and training tops, to be auctioned off in aid of the NHS and Air Ambulances UK charity, giving back to the services that saved their teammate's life. And it was West Ham who soon took control of a cagey affair.
Summerville was the bright spark, dancing with the ball at his feet and scaring the Wolves defence with his quick movement, but there was little in the way of chances to cheer before the crowd rose to celebrate their striker on nine minutes, as applause and chants of Antonio rang around the stadium.
West Ham looked the better of the two sides, but the quality was poor across the park. Both teams are struggling for confidence at the moment, although The Hammers are Monday night experts, with eight wins on the spin when the lights are shining down on a Monday evening game. A first shot on target of the game came from range, Joao Gomes striking right at Fabianski when shooting from 20 yards out.
Quickly after, it was West Ham threatening. After Soucek was tackled on the edge of the box, the ball squeezed loose into the box and into the path of Bowen down the right channel. But the forward hit too close to Johnstone in the Wolves goal as he tried to fire across goal with his right foot into the bottom corner.
These chances were the start of the game opening up, especially as two sides who have failed to look secure all season searched desperately for a way into the match. This was a West Ham team opened up by Leicester last week, a side who had not scored more than once in a home game all season until Lopetegui's side turned up. And they were up against a side that Everton tore open. Everton. Expectations were not high.
Cunha soon forced a good save from Fabianski from outside the box, drilling a low one towards the post that was sneaking in, if not for the goalkeeper's smart save.
Then it was West Ham threatening moments later, Summerville curling a lovely pass over the Wolves defence as Soler burst through the lines of defence, but the Frenchman's run was spotted by Semedo, who darted in from his right-sided position and slid to make a timely block as Soler looked to beat Johnstone.
But it was the visitors who got the first really clear, big chance. Jorgen Strand Larsen, the Wolves frontman, spread the ball wide to the right for Matt Doherty, who caused West Ham problems all game with his runs forward from wing back.
The Irish international was smart, letting the ball come to him as he was left under little pressure. Setting himself, he delivered first time, curling a lovely ball across the box. It was just over Larsen attacking it in the area, but Gomes had pushed on into the area and met the ball at the far post, only to meet it on the half-volley and skew the ball wide of goal from around eight yards out.
Straight up the other end, Kudus forced Johnstone to push a curling effort wide of goal, and from the resulting corner, West Ham may feel they should have taken the lead.
A short corner to Kudus was then clipped into the box by the Ghanaian, floating to the far post. Kilman headed it down into the middle and it bounced to Mavropanos six yards out, only for the defender to slip and hit it over.
There was a Summerville header harmlessly wide, and chaos in the West Ham box that saw two shots blocked, but the half ended with the two sides still locked level. The Hammers had had the better of it.
Any positivity could have been wasted away inside a minute after Ait Nouri was released down the left wing behind the defence. Doherty had made the run through the middle, but Ait Nouri smashed it way ahead of his teammate running into the box and blew the chance. It was an inexcusably poor pass.
That was quickly forgotten, though, as West Ham got the goal they had just about deserved. Just before 10 minutes of the second half were up, Bowen fired a corner high to the far post from the right, and Tommy Soucek was waiting underneath it. Under very little pressure from a criminally abject defensive setup, Soucek was able to loop a header back across goal.
Johnstone was stuck, not able to get across the line, and his defender missed it as the ball came dropping out of the sky and landed inside the back of the net. It was the simplest of goals, but the relief was palpable. The midfielder screamed down the camera lens for Antonio.
Replays showed the corner never should have been given, but as is Wolves's luck, I'm sure they're not at all surprised.
Minutes later, it looked like the lead had been doubled. After Bowen smacked the ball across the face of goal, Kudus was ahead of his man to tap into an open goal, but VAR disallowed the goal after the winger moved just a step too early.
The first of two very strong Wolves claims for penalties came next. Cunha drifted in from the left and played it into the box for Guedes. He ran into the box through the middle, and just as he stepped into the area, Emerson barged into the back of him and the Portuguese went down. The referee saw nothing wrong, and VAR agreed, leaving Wolves in fury once more.
It didn't matter, for a minute later, Wolves were level. The goalkeeper cleared long down the left channel, where Guedes was in space to take it down. He rolled it forward into the path of Ait Nouri, who overlapped and then crossed into the middle.
He clipped a cross into the box towards the penalty spot, and Doherty had space to get an effort on goal, even with the ball behind him. He dug out a left-footed effort, meeting it just as it bounced to drill his effort into the bottom corner down to Fabianski's right.
In games gone by, West Ham would have felt sorry for themselves, but it was to their and their manager's credit that they took the lead again instantly.
A cross was curled in at goal from 40 yards out, and a weak clearance full to Summerville on the edge of the area. His shot was deflected high into the air and wide of the box, Kudus taking it down on the wing, tight to the area, and after turning to look up, he laid off to Bowen on the corner of the area.
The captain cut it, beat one man with a fake, moved it onto his left foot then opened his body up and exquisitely curled the ball through a packed around and into the far corner with Johnstone beaten all ends up.
After big celebrations, Bowen went to a box and found a shirt next to the hoardings, lifting it up to reveal more support for their teammate recovering in hospital.
Wolves tried to ramp the pressure up, with Cunha trying to influence and lift his team out of trouble, like he has done a good few times since joining the club.
He created a half decent chance for Lemina, squaring to him on the edge of the box, but the fiery midfielder passed it right at Fabianski.
Then Doyle had his side's big chance, that one chance teams often get when desperately chasing a leveller.
Emerson lost the ball needlessly in midfield and Wolves flew forward. Numbers made their way up and the visitors got into the West Ham box. Bellegarde went down, tripped by Mavropanos, but the referee dismissed it.
So did Cunha, showing great awareness to get onto the ball and turn before passing to Doyle. In space, the young midfielder stepped into the box but blast over under no pressure.
The replays soon showed why Bellegarde went down, and it was clear Mavropanos had stamped on his foot. Another escape.
The Hammers did have a third ruled out with Kudus well offside, but Wolves could find little more to threaten, and Lopetegui beat his old side in what was so much of a must win, the win might not even save him. A loss could well do for O'Neil, too.
Manager's Rating
Julen Lopetegui 6/10: His team created good chances from set pieces, but little else clear. Wolves arguably were the more dangerous in open play, but they were not good enough either. Luckily, the referees were overawed by how massive West Ham are, because both should have been pens. Nothing solved tonight, and about as weak a win as he could muster. But they stayed strong and they did get that win. A mixed bag.
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Click to view all West Ham United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers match reports Click to view all match reports by Chris Wilkerson Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.Player Ratings
Lukasz FabianskiOne good save, a goal he couldn't stop.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Not so wildly flying forward and saw the left side exposed simply a few times.
Emerson Palmieri
Harshly booked and now suspended for next week's game at Bournemouth, and had some wobbly moments thereafter.
Konstantinos Mavropanos
Should have scored, should have been punished with a penalty against him, but was otherwise pretty good.
Max Kilman
Solid and composed, seemed comfortable in his knowledge of how to stop his former teammates.
Edson Alvarez
The midfield has better balance with him in it, and he is clearly a very important piece. Or at least, someone who can hold midfield and drop in as a third centre back is.
Tomas Soucek
Fighting on and on, the warrior who never gives in, Tommy has proven himself invaluable this season. Another crucial goal.
Carlos Soler
Couldn't dictate things today, although he felt safer in possession than Paqueta did.
Jarrod Bowen
Nowhere near his best season for the club at this point, but he's never done anything but try. It means he's scored absolute clutch goals for this team this season, a naturally talented goalscorer, and I would allow more than one game to see if he can be the solution there. Such a wonderful finish.
Crysencio Summerville
Dangerous when West Ham were flat, and whilst he did go down some blind alleys, he scared his opponents with quick feet and direct running.
Mohammed Kudus
Had his moments, but doesn't look happy in his play. He links well with Bowen, though, and that was the success of Bowen up front. Both seem to enable the other well, but both want to be on the right wing.
Substitutes
Lucas Paqueta(Soler 64') Didn't make a big impact, but did stick to his defensive role in late stages. However, took some risks, as ever.
Danny Ings
(Summerville 73') A non-entity.
Guido Rodriguez
(Kudus 88') A silly challenge gave away a dangerous freekick.
Jean-Clair Todibo
(Alvarez 88') Some smart defending in his cameo.
Aaron Cresswell
(Emerson 88') Decent cross late on as he got a few minutes.
Alphonse Areola
Did not play.
Vladimir Coufal
Did not play.
Luis Guilherme
Did not play.
Niclas Fullkrug
Did not play.
Match Facts
West Ham United: Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Emerson Palmieri, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Max Kilman, Edson Alvarez, Tomas Soucek, Carlos Soler, Jarrod Bowen, Crysencio Summerville, Mohammed Kudus.Goals: Tomas Soucek 54 Jarrod Bowen 72 .
Booked: Emerson Palmieri 0 Carlos Soler 0 Lukasz Fabianski 0 Guido RodrÃguez 0 Jarrod Bowen 0 .
Sent Off: None sent off. .
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Johnstone, Doherty, Semedo, Toti, Bueno, Ait-Nouri, Lemina, Andre (Bellegarde 62), J Gomes (Doyle 78), Cunha, Strand Larsen (Guedes 62) .
Subs not used: Bentley, Dawson, R Gomes, Hwang, Forbs, Lima.
Goals: Doherty (69).
Booked: Cunha, Doherty, Gomes, Lemina.
Sent off: None.
Referee: John Brooks.
Attendance: 62,435.
Man of the Match: Tomas Soucek.