West Ham’s Unsung Hero and Turning Point Win Over Wolves

A game that West Ham was counted out of prior to kickoff ended up being a marquee performance led, behind the scenes, by one unsung Hammers hero.

No shout of a man of the match considerations, less lauded than the brace scoring Jarrod Bowen, and not as heralded as Michail Antonio for his bullying of the Wolves back three, Pablo Fornals put in a shift and was the unsung hero for West Ham in this match.

The aforementioned players coming before Fornals deserve all the credit they are receiving right now because without their play this game doesn’t turn out the positive that it was for West Ham. Bowen was electric and Antonio had an all-time performance, while even the backline for the Hammers is getting praised rightfully so before the Spanish playmaker.

He was played out of position as the left-winger, as he and we are used to now, but made his impact in the middle of the park. Both goal contributions from Fornals showed off his positional awareness and intelligence beautifully, drifting away from his wing to a position where he could impact the attack.

Quickly taking the free-kick to spring Bowen caught the entire Wolves team off guard and took advantage of Bowen’s speed down a sleeping wing. Having the presence of mind to do this was terrific, but in review the skill it took to hit it first time to curl into Bowen’s path was superb.

What comes next for Fornals is an atrocious miss to go up 2-0 but the most pivotal point in the match for him and his team. Heads didn’t drop. When the ball popped off Rui Patricio to Fornals alone and unpressured and he skied it, everyone could have hung their heads as the opportunity to choke out the match passed.

Instead, the Hammers kept Hammering and Fornals would get another chance to impact the game in the second half. Drifting in from his wing to the top of the box on the left side, Fornals overlapped with Antonio and picked up a wonderful pass, thumping it into the post from range. Bowen sniffed out the rebound and made no mistake and the Spaniard nabbed his second assist.

Fornals gets slated often for his failure to impact games but proved in this match that when he is given the freedom to roam across the front three, he will undoubtedly pop up on the scoresheet.

It may seem disingenuous to call a player with two assists an unsung hero, but having the mental strength to continue pushing after a horror miss is nothing to overlook. More power to you, Pablo, keep on pushing this team forward!