West Ham United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Hammers beat fellow top-four hopefuls

West Ham claimed a valuable Premier League victory over Wolves to reignite their pursuit of a top-four finish.

Tomas Soucek celebrated his 27th birthday by scoring the only goal of the game for the Hammers, with the Czech Republic international poking home from Michail Antonio's pass.

The result moves West Ham up to fifth in the table, above Arsenal on goal difference and two points behind Manchester United in fourth - however the Gunners have three games in hand on both.

Consecutive draws had seen David Moyes' side lose ground near the top of the table but they created several excellent chances to score and deserved their win over opponents who also have European aspirations.

Aaron Cresswell and Declan Rice both went close to opening the scoring for the hosts, with England midfielder Rice curling a superb 20-yard effort against the right-hand post.

Jarrod Bowen, Soucek and Pablo Fornals all had opportunities to double their advantage and ensure a more comfortable conclusion for the hosts who were forced to withstand some late pressure from Wolves, who stay eighth.

Bruno Lage's team struggled for fluency after he made five changes to the side that started Thursday's defeat at Arsenal.

And while they improved after the break, the second-half introductions of Raul Jimenez, Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto were unable to make a difference to the outcome.

More to follow.

helpHow to play

Rate players out of 10 throughout or after the game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle.

Rating range key1 = Give it up10 = Pure perfection

West Ham United

Squad number1Player nameFabianski

Squad number31Player nameJohnson

Squad number15Player nameDawson

Squad number4Player nameZouma

Squad number3Player nameCresswell

Squad number28Player nameSoucek

Squad number41Player nameRice

Squad number20Player nameBowen

Squad number10Player nameLanzini

Squad number8Player nameFornals

Squad number9Player nameAntonio

Squad number11Player nameVlasic

Squad number23Player nameDiop

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Squad number1Player nameJosé Sá

Squad number23Player nameKilman

Squad number16Player nameCoady

Squad number27Player nameSaïss

Squad number2Player nameHoever

Squad number8Player nameRúben Neves

Squad number32Player nameDendoncker

Squad number5Player nameMarçal

Squad number11Player nameTrincão

Squad number26Player nameHwang Hee-Chan

Squad number17Player nameFábio Silva

Squad number7Player namePedro Neto

Squad number9Player nameJiménez

Squad number10Player nameDaniel Podence

Line-ups

West Ham

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Fabianski

31Johnson15Dawson4Zouma3Cresswell

28Soucek41Rice

20Bowen10Lanzini8Fornals

9Antonio

Substitutes

Wolves

Formation 3-4-2-1

1Malheiro de Sá

23Kilman16Coady27Saïss

2Hoever8Neves32Dendoncker5Marçal

11Machado Trincão26Hwang Hee-Chan

17Fábio Silva

Substitutes

Live Text

Match ends, West Ham United 1, Wolverhampton Wanderers 0.

Second Half ends, West Ham United 1, Wolverhampton Wanderers 0.

Substitution, West Ham United. Issa Diop replaces Pablo Fornals.

Substitution, West Ham United. Nikola Vlasic replaces Michail Antonio.

Attempt saved. Rúben Neves (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Romain Saïss.

Attempt blocked. Conor Coady (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Leander Dendoncker.

Attempt blocked. Raúl Jiménez (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Pedro Neto.

Michail Antonio (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Raúl Jiménez (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Foul by Michail Antonio (West Ham United).

Substitution, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Raúl Jiménez replaces Hwang Hee-Chan.

Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Kurt Zouma.

Attempt blocked. Pedro Neto (Wolverhampton Wanderers) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Leander Dendoncker.

Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Kurt Zouma.

Attempt blocked. Daniel Podence (Wolverhampton Wanderers) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Hwang Hee-Chan.

Substitution, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Pedro Neto replaces Marçal.

Rúben Neves (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Foul by Tomas Soucek (West Ham United).

Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Kurt Zouma.

Attempt blocked. Fábio Silva (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.

Source Link