West Ham United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers. Premier League.
London Stadium.
Report and highlights as Wolves move into top six with win at West Ham
Sunday 21 June 2020 07:11, UK
Wolves' substitutions changed the game as they earned a 2-0 win at relegation-threatened West Ham thanks to goals from Raul Jimenez and Pedro Neto.
Pablo Fornals blazed over from a good position early on in the game's only chance until 17 minutes from time, when sub Adama Traore expertly crossed for Jimenez to head in at the far post.
Wolves' second was even better, as Matt Doherty's deep cross was thrashed home by Neto, another late sub, on the volley from 15 yards out.
The result has lifted Wolves above Sheffield United and up to sixth, while West Ham remain out of the relegation zone of goal difference ahead of 18th-placed Bournemouth.
Both sides went into the game with different ambitions, West Ham to survive and Wolves to sneak into the upper echelons of the Premier League and a potential Champions League spot.
Though Wolves dominated the ball in the first half and had eight shots to West Ham's two, the Hammers had by far the best opportunity. A simple Mark Noble lofted ball over the Wolves defence found Fornals through on goal at a slight angle, with the ball bouncing, but the Spaniard thrashed at it and sliced well over Rui Patricio's bar from 10 yards.
That was as good as it got in a tepid first half, and the second half followed the same pattern as both sides struggled to get in-behind, until the introduction of Traore on 64 minutes.
Just nine minutes after, Traore got by Cresswell on the right with ease, before delivering a beauty from the byline, taking Lukasz Fabianski out of the game and finding Jimenez back stick to simply nod home.
West Ham were sparked into action as Declan Rice forced Patricio into a save from a corner, before Michail Antonio blazed over from distance following a good run, but it was soon 2-0 and game over thanks to another Wolves sub.
Latching onto Doherty's cross from the right, Neto met a sweet volley into the roof of the net from the left of the box, giving Fabianski no chance.
In a game that struggled to get going, Nuno's expert late subs capitalised on a tiring Hammers, and Wolves' quality told. For West Ham, it's one win in 10 Premier League games, and another relegation dogfight to come.
West Ham boss David Moyes told Sky Sports: "I thought up until they brought on Traore we defended quite well, limiting them to not too many opportunities. I thought we were plugging away, hanging in there, but the difference was when Traore came on.
"We felt we were doing OK, keeping at it, and hoping something would come for us. What we got was a strong and powerful winger coming on and making the difference.
"We want to make more chances, they made it hard for us today, but for long periods we did OK. We've got touch games, but also some games which might suit us."
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo told Sky Sports: "We performed well, we played good. We were very organised and controlled the game. We didn't create many final actions, but we produced a lot of situations.
"In the second half, we had some speed, some more accuracy in delivery, so we did well. We needed this to feel we are really back again; it's too bad, the fans should be here, but it's different for us and everybody. It's good to have football back, let's try to produce good games so the people watching enjoy.
"The players will never get used to it, let's hope and pray something comes along like a vaccine so we can play in front of fans again."
West Ham now go to London rivals Tottenham on Tuesday at 8.15pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, while Wolves host Bournemouth on Wednesday at 6pm.
