Mohammed Kudus’ brace and Jarrod Bowen’s strike fired West Ham to a 3-0 home win over Wolves at London Stadium.
Kudus pounced upon two through ball passes from Lucas Paqueta in the 22nd and 32nd minutes and converted both shots to put the hosts two goals ahead at half-time.
Bowen wrapped up the victory after he benefitted from an one-two move with Paqueta to net the Hammers’ third goal in the 74th minute.
Prior to Bowen’s winner, Wolves saw a chance to reduce their deficit ruled offside by Video Assistant Referee (VAR), as Pablo Sarabia netted in the 58th minute albeit from a marginally offside position.
West Ham now sit seventh in the Premier League table before Manchester United visit Liverpool in the late kick-off, whilst Wolves remain 13th in the table.
A scrappy start saw neither team produce much quality aside from a few corners for West Ham which came to nothing, whilst Wolves’ Matheus Cunha produced the first shot on target in the 12th minute but Lukasz Fabianski was alert to make a crucial save.
Ex Hammer, Craig Dawson fouled Bowen in the 18th minute but James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick was saved by Dan Bentley, as he tried to find the bottom left corner with his well-taken delivery.
West Ham soon broke the deadlock minutes later as they broke away from a Wolves corner which saw Paqueta play the ball through to Kudus, who calmy beat Toti to rifle into his near-bottom right corner to put the hosts ahead just one second into the 23rd minute.
Cunha almost restored parity five minutes later from 35 yards but Fabianski was alert to block his shot towards the bottom left corner.
The 24 year-old Brazilian then teed up Jean-Ricner Bellegarde to try and equalise in the 31st minute, only for his shot to be blocked.
Wolves’ wasteful end product was soon punished again as Paqueta unleashed a diagonal through ball towards Kudus, and the Ghana international calmly blasted his shot into the bottom left corner to double the hosts’ lead.
West Ham however were slightly lucky to head into half-time without conceding, after Coufal crucially blocked a half-volley shot from Cunha in the 41st minute.
Bowen however could of further extended West Ham’s lead before the break after he was fouled by Joao Gomes, only for VAR to rule out a penalty despite Bowen’s appeals.
Wolves manager, Gary O’Neill opted not to make any half-time changes but upon the start of the second half, his team initally found themselves on the backfoot like in the first half as West Ham won two early seet pieces but Nayef Aguerd headed wide from a 48th minute corner.
That lucky escape sparked Wolves into a dominant spell which saw Hwang fire wide via deflection, before Bellegarde produced a 58th minute cross, which found Semedo to tee up Pablo Sarabia who poked in.
VAR however adjudged the Spaniard just marginally offside following a three-and-a-half minute review, and chalked Wolves’ goal off.
Cunha then chipped over six minutes later whilst Paqueta volleyed over for West Ham a further two minutes later, as both teams chased crucial goals heading into the final 20 minutes.
West Ham eventually found that third goal which secured the win in the 74th minute after Bowen played an one-two move with Paqueta, which culminated in the England international’s shot hitting the bottom left corner.
Ward-Prowse narrowly missed a chance to add a fourth goal for the hosts as he curled a free-kick just wide, following a foul on Paqueta which had led to the set-piece.
West Ham eventually clung on for a dominant win which put them up to seventh in the table, whilst Wolves continue to sit mid-table in 13th position.
What’s Next?
West Ham turn their attemtion to a trip to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Quarter-Finals on Wednesday 20 December at 8pm GMT, before hosting Manchester United at home in the Premier League on Saturday 23 December in a 12:30pm kick-off.
Wolves meanwhile host Chelsea on Sunday 24 December at 1pm, in the first Premier League match to be played on Xmas Eve since 1995.
Teams
West Ham: Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Nayef Aguerd, Kurt Zouma, Emerson Palmieri, Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez (Fornals 70′), James Ward-Prowse, Mohammed Kudus (Ings 87′), Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta (Mubama 87′)
Substitutes: Aaron Cresswell, Pablo Fornals, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Danny Ings, Angelo Ogbonna, Said Benrahma, Alphonse Areola, Thilo Kehrer, Divin Mubama
Wolves: Dan Bentley, Max Kilman, Craig Dawson, Toti (Ait-Nouri 70′), Nelson Semedo (Doherty 80′), Mario Lemina (Doyle 80′), Joao Gomes, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Pablo Sarabia, Hwang Hee-chan, Matheus Cunha
Substitutes: Matt Doherty, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Santiago Bueno, Boubacar Traore, Fabio Silva, Hugo Bueno, Sasa Kalajdzic, Tommy Doyle, Tom King
Referee – Chris Kavanagh
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