Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 West Ham United
Premier League
West Ham United tasted defeat on the road for the first time this season as Raúl Jiménez’s second half goal gave Wolverhampton Wanderers a 1-0 win at Molineux on Saturday.
The hosts took advantage of a below-par display from the Hammers, who started brightly but were unable to regain control once Wolves took over.
Daniel Podence twice went close for the home side before Jiménez got his goal – and that solitary strike proved enough to keep the points in the Midlands.
David Moyes was forced into his first change in five Premier League games by Angelo Ogbonna’s knee injury, with Craig Dawson slotting straight in his place.
The Hammers started on the front foot, with Jarrod Bowen’s close range header from Aaron Cresswell’s left-wing cross dropping just wide, but Wolves soon took a handle on the game and looked the more likely before the break.
With wing-backs Nelson Semedo and Rayan Aït-Nouri pushing high up the pitch and helping restrict the visitors’ forward movement, Wolves began to dominate the ball.
After Ben Johnson survived a handball shout blocking a Hwang Hee-chan cross at close quarters, Jiménez broke the offside trap to run through on goal, but when only faced by Łukasz Fabiański, his dinked effort dribbled comfortably wide of the far post.
João Moutinho also forced a stretching tip over from Fabiański with a dangerous shot from range as Wolves kept the pressure on as the interval neared.
At the other end Kurt Zouma had a header from a Bowen corner ruled out for a foul, but the half-time break did little to change the flow of the game.
Three minutes after the interval, Podence drew a fine low save from Fabiański with a low shot from 20 yards, then on 56 the same player was only denied by a fine reaction stop from the Hammers No1 as he aimed for the top corner.
However, as the game reached the hour mark there was no stopping Jiménez as Podence turned provider, making tracks down the right hand side before cutting back to the Mexican on the edge of the box.
The home No9 didn’t have to break his stride to strike first time, slotting low into the bottom left hand corner to break the deadlock.
Moyes brought on Manuel Lanzini, Nikola Vlašić and Andriy Yarmolenko as the Hammers searched for a route back into the contest, and although Michail Antonio and Bowen sent efforts from the edge of the box over the top, Wolves were deserved victors.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sá, Kilman, Coady, Saïss, Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Aït-Nouri, Podence (Traoré 76), Hwang (Denconcker 87), Jiménez
Subs: Ruddy (GK), Hoever, Marçal, Trincao, Boly, Silva, Cundle
Goal: Jiménez 60
Booked: Neves
West Ham United: Fabiański, Johnson, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell, Rice, Souček, Bowen (Yarmolenko 71), Benrahma (Vlašić 71), Fornals (Lanzini 60), Antonio
Subs: Areola (GK), Coufal, Masuaku, Diop, Noble, Král
Booked: Rice
Referee: Mike Dean