Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 West Ham United
Premier League, Molineux, Saturday 6 April 2024, 3pm BST
James Ward-Prowse’s outrageous late goal straight from a corner helped power West Ham United to a 2-1 comeback win away at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
A poor first half finished with the home side boasting a narrow lead courtesy of a Pablo Sarabia spot-kick, with Łukasz Fabiański contributing a handful of good saves and the best of few away chances falling to Tomáš Souček.
Two changes at half-time sparked a more encouraging performance after the interval, and after Lucas Paquetá notched his eighth goal of the season from the penalty spot, Ward-Prowse silenced Molineux with a curling set-piece that eluded everyone in the box and nestled into the net.
The Hammers survived a late scare when a Maximilian Kilman equaliser was ruled out for offside after a VAR check, earning a sixth win in eight against Wanderers and boosting the side’s hopes of European qualification.
Boss David Moyes made one change to the XI that started the 1-1 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur last time out, with midfielder Edson Álvarez returning following suspension, in place of Michail Antonio.
After both teams took the knee before kick-off, in support of the Premier League’s No Room For Racism campaign, the first chance of the afternoon fell to the hosts in the third minute, though Rayan Aït-Nouri’s long-range shot was comfortably off target.
Wolves enjoyed little under 90 per cent of possession during ten opening minutes largely void of much quality, but then Souček just couldn’t quite get on the end of a Jarrod Bowen pass across goal after the latter had done well to dispossess Nélson Semedo close to the by-line.
Fabiański - who had kept his place in goal due to Alphonse Areola’s groin injury - snuffed out an opening for Sarabia as the clock ticked past the 20-minute mark, after Semedo had beaten the odds to latch onto a long ball over the top and cut it back on the stretch.
As Gary O’Neil’s charges looked to build momentum in attack, captain Kurt Zouma stopped Aït-Nouri in his tracks with an acrobatic slide tackle, before Fabiański was again called upon to parry an angled Tommy Doyle drive.
Doyle and Mario Lemina helped themselves to half-chances that never really threatened to break the deadlock, but Wolves continued to look the more likely, and after Emerson was penalised for bringing Aït-Nouri down in the box, Sarabia duly converted from 12 yards off the post.
A Bowen corner came to nothing, as West Ham attempted to muster up a response, but the home side were next to knock on the door when João Gomes shot straight down the throat of Fabiański.
A foul on Aït-Nouri 20 yards out presented Wolves with a good chance halfway through two minutes of first-half added time, and after Fabiański dealt with Sarabia’s curled attempt, ref Tony Harrington signalled the break.
Antonio came on for his 300th West Ham appearance ahead of the second period, in place of Souček, while Ben Johnson also replaced Vladimír Coufal, and the Hammers’ No9 was involved immediately, striking a tame shot at home stopper José Sá.
There were concerned faces among the visiting bench when Bowen went down for a sustained period after landing awkwardly, and despite attempting to run the problem off, the England international did need replacing by Aaron Cresswell in the 55th minute.
Home substitute Matheus Cunha introduced himself to the game by fouling Emerson just outside the 18-yard box, but James Ward-Prowse could only find the wall with his effort from the resulting set-piece.
The travelling fans thought their team had drawn level in the 63rd minute when Emerson met a curling Mohammed Kudus cross at the back post and headed home, but ref Harrington pulled play back for a foul by the Italian on Semedo.
There was reason to cheer less than ten minutes later when the man in the middle pointed to the spot for handball against Wolves captain Kilman however, and Paquetá tucked his penalty past Sá into the bottom right corner for 1-1.
The change in scoreline shifted the momentum somewhat in the Irons’ favour, and Johnson and Kudus both had opportunities to snatch the lead around the 80-minute mark, but couldn’t get the better of Sá.
The turnaround was completed moments later though, when Ward-Prowse curled a corner over the top of the Portuguese stopper and into the goal, cueing wild celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.
Wolves thought they had rescued a point in the ninth minute of ten added on when Kilman headed in from a corner, but it was chalked off after Harrington went to the monitor and West Ham clung on for three valuable points ahead of Thursday’s trip to Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Europa League.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sá, Semedo, Kilman ©, Toti, S. Bueno, Aït-Nouri (Cunha 55), Doherty (H. Bueno 87), M. Lemina (Traoré 75), João Gomes, Doyle (Chirewa 87), Sarabia (Chiwome 75)
Subs: Bentley (GK), N. Lemina, Dawson, Fraser
Goal: Sarabia pen 33
Booked: João Gomes, Toti, Traoré, Sarabia, Cunha
West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal (Johnson 46), Zouma ©, Mavropanos, Emerson, Álvarez, Souček (Antonio 46), Ward-Prowse, Kudus, Paquetá, Bowen (Cresswell 54)
Subs: Anang (GK), Ogbonna, Aguerd, Phillips, Cornet, Ings
Goals: Paquetá pen 72, Ward-Prowse 84
Booked: Emerson, Paquetá
Referee: Tony Harrington
Attendance: 31,504
