West Ham 1 Wolves 0 - Report

Following the late collapse at Arsenal on Thursday night, Wolves had a quick turnaround but controlled possession in the early minutes of the game.

That was short lived, however, as the hosts got into their stride and too easily bypassed Wolves’ midfield.

The Hammers could not find their scoring touch before half-time, but on the hour-mark birthday boy Tomas Soucek prodded home to give the hosts a deserved lead.

From that moment, Wolves entered a horrific spell of defending. West Ham opened them up time and again and attempted to walk the ball in, but somehow did not double their lead.

In the latter stages of the half Wolves made some attacking changes and chased an equaliser but never looked like finding that elusive goal, as they fell to another crucial defeat in the race for European football.

Bruno Lage made five changes to his side but stuck with the 3-4-3 formation.

In a very surprising move, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Joao Moutinho, Daniel Podence and Raul Jimenez were all benched, while Nelson Semedo missed out with injury.

As a result, Ki-Jana Hoever, Fernando Marcal, Leander Dendoncker, Francisco Trincao and Fabio Silva all came into the team.

Willy Boly also returned to the squad for the first time since December 15 after overcoming a calf injury and made the bench. Toti Gomes dropped out of the squad.

David Moyes made two changes to his side following their draw with Newcastle last week, as they stuck with their 4-2-3-1 formation.

Ben Johnson replaced Ryan Fredericks, who did not make the squad, while Said Benrahma dropped to the bench and was replaced by Manuel Lanzini.

In the warm-ups ahead of the game, both teams showed their support for Ukraine. The Wolves players wore t-shirts that displayed the message ‘no to war’, while the West Ham players wore shirts with ‘Yarmolenko 7’ on the bench.

Their Ukrainian forward Andriy Yarmolenko was not in the squad after being given time off by the club. Wolves defender Max Kilman, who has family ties to Ukraine, kept his place in the starting XI.

As the team’s lined up ahead of kick-off, Hammers captain Declan Rice held a home shirt with Yarmolenko’s name on it, while a message in support of the player and the country of Ukraine lit up the big screens at the London Stadium.

The first big chance fell to the hosts after five minutes when Jarrod Bowen was inches away from meeting a sublime Aaron Cresswell cross from the left.

Despite that chance, it was a composed and measured start from Wolves. Lage’s team had more than 70 per cent of the possession in the opening 10 minutes and often found space out wide.

However, Dendoncker handed West Ham an opportunity when he was too relaxed on the ball and had it stolen by Soucek. He fed Bowen who raced forward and tried to play in Michail Antonio, but goalkeeper Jose Sa was quick off his line and collected the loose ball.

Romain Saiss then gave a free-kick away for a foul on Johnson 25-yards out. Cresswell whipped it towards goal with his left foot and it flashed inches wide of Sa’s left-hand post.

The story of the first half an hour was how easily West Ham bypassed Wolves’ midfield and another fine move saw Antonio take aim from inside the box, but Sa was equal to and made a strong save. The resulting corner caused a scramble in the box and the ball was about to fall to Antonio to finish from a couple yards, but Kurt Zouma took the ball off his toe and the chance was gone.

Wolves seemed uncapable of putting together a fluent attacking move but a long kick from Sa, and a slip by Craig Dawson, had Silva bearing down on goal but as he looked to cut inside, Zouma came across and made a vital tackle.

Kilman was all at sea on the right side and handed possession back to Pablo Fornals, who raced down the flank and pulled it back to Rice. The midfielder curled a beautiful effort from 25 yards that smashed off the post with Sa beaten.

Moments later, Marcal made a crucial intervention to deny another shot as West Ham charged forward.

The onslaught from the hosts kept coming and this time it was Lanzini’s turn, but he hit the side netting after sliding in to meet Antonio’s cross.

There was a break in play for several minutes on the stroke of half-time when Saiss took a knock to the face, but he was able to continue after receiving treatment on the pitch and undergoing concussion protocols.

That enforced break seemed to wake Wolves up, too, as they almost snatched the opening goal. A scramble in the box resulted in the ball landing to Hwang Hee-chan from 12 yards but when he should have at least hit the target, he instead lashed just wide of the post.

After a poor half Wolves’ best spell came in the final three minutes of injury time, as both sides entered the break drawing 0-0.

Despite Wolves’ lacklustre first half and the wealth of talent on the bench, Lage made no changes for the second half.

Although Wolves began to get hold of the ball and create some attacks, they were still soft with their final ball as Trincao flattered to deceive.

The winger did have a chance, however, when the ball was worked onto his left foot from just outside the box, and his in-swinging effort crashed just over the bar.

But after an hour West Ham opened the scoring. On the left flank Ruben Neves stuck a foot out to intercept a pass into the box and was unlucky as the ball fell into Antonio’s path. The striker then delivered a low cross and Soucek was on hand to tap in from close range.

Wolves rallied following the goal and with the introduction of Podence almost hit back immediately, but Silva’s effort from close range was deflected wide by Zouma, who again made a big block.

The Wolves striker later smashed an effort over the bar from distance as Wolves laboured.

Despite those two efforts, it was a miracle West Ham did not extend their lead after 67 minutes. Time and again they charged forward and Wolves were struggling to keep hold of the ball or contain the Hammers’ attacks. A big save from Sa denied Bowen who had been slipped through on goal by Fornals.

Wolves were struggling in every department and a mix-up between Podence and Kilman allowed Antonio to race forward and after rolling Conor Coady, the striker was through on goal. Kilman tracked back and tried to hack him down, but fortunately missed, and as he closed in on goal Antonio tried to square it, but Neves intercepted and saved Wolves.

The attacks kept coming as the hosts time and again opened Wolves up. A Saiss clearance stopped another advance.

After 76 minutes Lage brought on Pedro Neto in an effort to get back into the game. He replaced Marcal as Wolves changed to a 4-4-2 formation. Jimenez followed from the bench shortly after, and joined Silva in a front two.

For all those changes, Wolves were toothless in attack. Too many set pieces were wayward and their attacking pressure was easily repelled heading into the 90th minute.

West Ham stood firm to secure the three points, handing Wolves another blow in their desire for European football.

Wolves: Sa, Kilman, Coady, Saiss, Hoever, Neves, Dendoncker, Marcal (Neto, 76), Trincao (Podence, 60), Silva, Hwang (Jimenez, 81).

Subs not used: Ruddy, Boly, Ait-Nouri, Jonny, Cundle, Moutinho.

West Ham: Fabianski, Johnson, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Fornals (Diop, 92), Lanzini, Bowen, Antonio (Vlasic, 90).

Subs not used: Areola, Alese, Kral, Perkins, Noble, Okoflex, Benrahma.