Hammers Fail To Complete Wolves Double

West Ham United were hoping to build on the point they picked up from Goodison Park before the break when they faced Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday night but unfortunately they suffered a 1-0 defeat at Molineux, meaning they remain fifteenth in the Premier League table.

Graham Potter made four changes to the team that played the Toffees last time out, as Aaron Cresswell, youngsters Oliver Scarles and Luis Guilherme all came into the starting line-up in place of Mohammed Kudus, Jean-Clair Todibo and Edson Álvarez.

The Mexican dropped to the bench, Kudus was missing from the matchday squad completely, while Todibo joined Álvarez, Emerson Palmieri and Tomáš Souček amongst the substitutes. The Czech’s place was taken by Evan Ferguson, who was finally given his full debut for the club.

Striker Niclas Füllkrug was involved for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury in the Emirates FA Cup third-round tie at Aston Villa in January.

It goes without saying that the two sides have performed well below their usual standards this season and the first ten minutes of the game proved exactly why the table doesn’t lie.

Once that period had passed, West Ham had a chance to go in front when James Ward-Prowse was tasked with taking one of his trademark free-kicks which he did but unfortunately, it went narrowly over the top.

That didn’t deter the Hammers though, as they kept coming forward. After an attempt from Toti Gomes was blocked by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the ball fell invitingly for Jarrod Bowen who crossed but unfortunately, Ferguson wasn’t able to get a good connection and Matt Doherty cleared the danger.

After surviving that scare, the hosts started to apply pressure when Gomes headed down Rayan Aït-Nouri’s free-kick but fortunately for the travelling contingent that made the journey from East London, visiting goalkeeper Alphonse Areola made a great save. Shortly after, another free-kick went the way of the home side however, it was no trouble for the French stopper, as January recruit Emmanuel Agbadou took a leaf out of Ward-Prowse’s book and sent his delivery over the top.

Irons’ captain Jarrod Bowen received possession from Guilherme and tested home goalkeeper José Sá at the near post but much to the disappointment of those in a packed away end, he was up to the job.

Bowen himself would have been disappointed with that attempt, as just two minutes later, Vitor Pereira’s side went in front when a loose pass from Konstantinos Mavropanos was pounced upon by Jørgen Strand Larsen and his left-footed shot went past a helpless Areola, thanks to a deflection off Max Kilman, who was making his first return to Molineux after leaving for East London in summer.

The visitors could Count themselves very lucky not to be further behind before half-time. João Gomes found Strand Larsen, who then picked out Marshall Munetsi but fortunately for Potter’s men, his shot smacked the crossbar.

The home support were delighted to see their side have another go but the scoreline remained the same at break, as two further efforts went in the direction of Areola’s but crucially, didn’t beat him.

Wholesale changes were made to the West Ham team at half-time, as Creswell, Guilherme and Ferguson were all replaced by Álvarez, Füllkrug and Carlos Soler. Personnel wasn’t the only thing that was altered by the West Ham Head-Coach during the interval as he also changed formation from five to three at the back.

Potter was obviously experimenting in this game, particularly with Saturday’s visit of AFC Bournemouth in mind and it clearly wasn’t paying off. After the break though, they looked far more comfortable with the change in system. That being said, Pereira’s men carried their momentum over into the second-half and looked more likely to extend their advantage rather than concede an equaliser. They went close again through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde. Another set-piece was awarded the home side and Bellegarde hit the post.

Although Potter would have been pleased with the amount of possession that his side were having in the second forty five minutes, the disappointing aspect for him was that they weren’t able to benefit from it.

The hosts were looking to catch their opponents on the break and nearly fashioned a chance with twenty minutes of normal time left to play but the Irons breathed a collective sigh of relief when Strand Larsen made a hash of converting Doherty’s cross.

There was still time for the East Londoners to take something from the game so Potter turned to his bench again and introduced both Palmieri and Souček to take the places of Scarles and Ward-Prowse.

This particular change made a real impact and it was almost immediate too!!! The Czech combined to great effect with Lucas Paquetá and the move resulted in Füllkrug hitting the crossbar. Palmieri went in to try and convert the rebound but he volleyed wide.

With seconds to go before stoppage time, Paquetá set up Souček for a golden chance but he only managed to place the ball into the side netting.

With a busier month ahead than February and March were, the Hammers now have to put this result behind them and focus on this weekend’s encounter with the Cherries.