West Ham vs Wolves: Five things we learned as visitors nudged Hammers closer to the drop
East London side were beaten by Nuno Espirito Santo’s tenacious team on Saturday
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Your support makes all the difference.Wolves emerged 2-0 winners from a Premier League clash against West Ham on Saturday thanks to a headed goal from Raul Jimenez and a crisp volley by Pedro Neto.
Both sides had plenty to play for, with the hosts in east London seeking to pull away from the relegation zone, while their visitors resumed their pursuit of a European place. But it was Nuno Espirito Santo’s team who were successful in closing in on their goal for the end of the season.
Here are five things we learned from the fixture at the London Stadium:
West Ham fail to respond to pressure
With Brighton, Watford and Aston Villa having all picked up points in this opening week of the Premier League’s restart, the pressure was on West Ham to take something from this game.
Unfortunately for David Moyes, his players were not quite up to the task.
Wolves were always going to provide a stern challenge in the Hammers’ first game back, but fans of the London club will still be frustrated that what looked to be an encouraging performance gave way to yet another defeat for one of the league’s weakest teams defensively.
With Tottenham and Chelsea up next, things could be about to get a whole lot worse for West Ham.
Wolves have the right to aim high
Wolves had the bit between their teeth from the opening whistle at the London Stadium.
A Champions League place is very much an achievable goal for Santo’s men this year, and they played as though they really believe that. Wolves fans will be encouraged by the verve and tenacity with which their team went about securing a result in east London, as well as the fact that their coach made the exact right changes to alter the outcome as the match wore on – substitutes Adama Traore and Neto providing an assist and scoring, respectively.
It’s not the most straightforward of run-ins for the seventh-placed club, but Wolves’ experience is greater than Sheffield United’s and their confidence is higher than Tottenham and Arsenal’s, so beating those clubs to a Europa League spot should be well within Wolves’ capability at the very least.
Lack of crowd harms Hammers
The crowd at the London Stadium are easily frustrated, and given the disparity between their team’s ambitions and performances this season, that’s understandable. But the lack of fans on Saturday did not work in West Ham’s favour.
The match was closely contested for most of its duration, and was even there to be won by the hosts in the second half, but they folded as Wolves’ substitutes made the difference.
Perhaps the West Ham players needed the edge that their fans could have offered.
Traore is still key for Wolves
Traore was suffering from some shoulder problems before the Premier League’s enforced break and started on the bench at the London Stadium, although that was reportedly not due to those previous injury issues, and the 24-year-old took to the pitch shortly after the hour mark.
Unsurprisingly, he made the difference, crossing superbly for Jimenez to break the deadlock.
Until the winger’s arrival, Diogo Jota was the visitors’ liveliest performer, but no Wolves player can fully match Traore’s intensity and threat. He will be key to his side’s European aspirations in what’s left of the term.
West Ham looked more solid, but not solid enough
Moyes is known for his ability to get teams organised, and at long last his West Ham side demonstrated some progress in this area on Saturday.
With Angelo Ogbonna absent, Declan Rice was deployed at centre-back, his formerly preferred position before he earned his stripes as a midfielder. And the 21-year-old was figuratively as well as literally central to a Hammers defence that was stubborn for most of the match. Nineteen-year-old Jeremy Ngakia also impressed at right-back at times, though his future does not seem lie in east London.
Ultimately, however, the home side were still not resilient enough to keep Wolves out. They have to become harder to beat if they are to avoid the drop; right now, they are too frail.
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