Hammers Suffer Molineux Mauling

Nuno Espírito Santo had never previously lost when taking a team back to Molineux but on Saturday afternoon, his West Ham United side suffered their second defeat of the season in the Black Country, after being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Wolverhampton Wanderers back on 26 August. This time, they went down 3-0 to a side, who are now under the stewardship of Rob Edwards and were still yet to pick up a top-flight win all campaign.

The Portuguese made two changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Brighton and Hove Albion in Stratford four days ago, as Konstantinos Mavropanos and Crysencio Summerville came into the starting lineup for the injured Jean-Clair Todibo and Lucas Paquetá, who wasn’t even involved in the matchday squad. New signing Pablo Felipe was named amongst the substitutes, along with youngsters Ezra Mayers, Airidas Golambeckis, Mohamadou Kanté and George Earthy.

Having lost to Fulham and drawn with the Seagulls in Stratford over the last week, it was vital that the Hammers got off to a good start here. Well, any hope that they had of getting something out of the game only lasted for four minutes. Great link-up play between Mateus Mané and Hwang Hee-chan allowed the South Korean to get past Mavropanos and cross the ball into the box where Jhon Arias claimed his first goal for the club by beating visiting goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

West Ham’s response to going behind was only brief and whilst they had possession, they failed to even test home goalkeeper José Sá!!!

The visitors knew they should have done better when they had the ball because it got worse for them after the half-hour mark. Like the Head-Coach, Max Kilman was also making a return to his former club and he was partly responsible for the hosts going further ahead. He failed to clear and when Soungoutou Magassa fouled Mané in the box, referee Peter Bankes had no hesitation in awarding Edwards’ side a penalty.

Areola had initially saved Hwang Hee-chan’s effort in the Carabao Cup match over four months ago but he had no chance of saving this one, as the South Korean doubled the advantage for the home side.

On what was already proving to be a terrible afternoon for them, the East Londoners were given a reprieve with thirty seven minutes gone, as Tolu Arokodare beat Kilman in the air and headed the ball towards goal but thankfully, Areola produced a superb save to keep the scoreline respectable.

It didn’t stay that way for too much longer however, as just four minutes later, Mané added his name to the scoresheet after having a hand in both of the goals up to this point. He got past Mavropanos again and beat the French goalkeeper.

Wolves had well and truly wrapped up the points but Magassa still had time to fire the ball over the bar before Bankes blew the whistle for the break. The ever-loyal fan base have not been satisfied for some time now but those who had travelled up from East London certainly made their feelings known here.

Both managers felt it necessary to make changes at half-time. Edwards introduced André for João Gomes, while Espírito Santo made two. Both Freddie Potts and Magassa were replaced by Tomáš Souček and Mayers.

With the home team not playing with as much intensity as in the first-half, together with West Ham not wanting to make their situation any worse, things were much quieter when the action restarted. The visitors hadn’t been able to register a shot on target so far and even when captain Jarrod Bowen tried his luck with an acrobatic effort, it was still no trouble for Sá.

Edwards made his second change after the hour mark, as Hwang Hee-chan made way for Jørgen Strand Larsen.

Areola was again required, as he kept out Hugo Bueno, while he also saw Strand Larsen send his powerful header wide.

The next Wolves attack brought yet another save from the visiting stopper, as Mané tried to add his second goal of the game but, on this occasion the former Fulham loanee was alert to the danger.

This result makes Tuesday night’s encounter with Nottingham Forest in Stratford all the more crucial, as Espírito Santo will once again attempt to clinch only his third win in charge of the club.