West Ham succumbed to 0-2 defeat to high-flying Wolves on their Premier League return, thanks to goals from Raul Jimenez and Pedro Neto.
David Moyes was forced to shuffle his deck from what fans expected to see. Sébastien Haller, Angelo Ogbonna and Robert Snodgrass were all absent from the matchday squad. Ogbonna’s absence from the team meant Declan Rice returned to centre-back to cover for the missing Italian.
Jeremy Ngakia‘s inclusion ahead of Ryan Fredericks was also a surprising selection by Moyes. The 19-year-old is expected to leave the club after he rejected a contract renewal. Ngakia’s current contract is set to expire at the end of the month.
After Watford and Brighton picked up results in the earlier kick-offs it was crucial that West Ham picked up something against Wolves. The first half was mostly dominated by the visitors, Wolves did well to hold on to the ball and get forward. The West Midlands side, however, did not manage to create any clear-cut chances.
West Ham managed to create the best chances of the first half. The first was through a long-ball over the top from Mark Noble to Pablo Fornals. The Spaniard was able to break the offside trap and latch on to the ball. Fornals however, was only able to smash the ball into the empty stands.
Tomas Soucek was unlucky not to break the deadlock. The ball fell to the midfielder about thirty-five yards out from the Wolves goal and the Czech’s connection was near perfect. Unfortunately, the ball was deflected behind by a Wolves defender.
The second-half started in much the same light, Wolves dominating and West Ham looking to try and take advantage of a break-away. Wolves were the ones to break the deadlock however, the first goal came after Wolves brought on Adama Traore. The powerful winger crossed in a perfect ball for Jimenez who was unmarked at the far post and headed into the West Ham net.
West Ham did respond after conceding, Michail Antonio went passed two Wolves defenders in one move and then hit a curling shot just over Rui Patricio‘s goal. But the response was quickly flattened by Wolves. Neto fired a fantastic volley past Fabianski, who was helpless as the ball fired past him.
Wolves took an all-important three points back to the Midlands as they look for European qualification, while West Ham will now have to get a result against Tottenham on Tuesday. At the time of writing the Hammers remain out of the bottom three on goal difference.
The East London club could drop into the bottom three of the Premier League should Bournemouth get a result against Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.