Wolves create lifeline
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v West Ham United 0
Oh the fickle finger of fate. Fourteen months ago, West Ham Manager David Moyes was the toast of the East End of London, his side riding high close to the summit of the Premier League. The talk was of serious league title contenders. Yet, within weeks of that forecast, the mantle of hope deserted them as the bubbles started to burst as soon as they were blown.
I have always felt that Moyes and West Ham are uneasy bedfellows, he a manager known for his love of grit and effort whilst the Club has always seen itself as one promoting cultured, stylish football. Whatever that juxtaposition, for the last twelve months West Ham’s trajectory has mirrored that of Wolves, both Clubs now finding themselves in battles for survival at the foot of the Premier League. But, unlike Wolves, West Ham has stuck by their manager. Previously infallible, Moyes will know that he has now entered that nether world of “two games from the sack”. In contrast, Lopetegui’s tenure is insufficiently long to place him in the death zone. But, whatever their personal circumstances, both managers knew that today’s game was huge, one which neither side could afford to lose.
And following a cagey first half one sensed that the players were also being affected by the significance of the encounter. Of the two, Wolves were the more inventive but, though pretty, their football lacked an end product.
Level at half time the second began comically as Wolves attempted to pass the ball around their eighteen-yard box, before Sa clumsily conceded possession to Jared Bowen whose cross found a West Ham head before being deflected for a corner. A second corner followed shortly thereafter but this time the home side cleared their lines, the ball falling to Nelson Semedo, enjoying one of his better performances. Advancing quickly up field he fed Matheus Nunes whose low cross rebounded off a West Ham shin to Daniel Podence. From the edge of the box the diminutive forward’s sweet strike was too good for Lukasz Fabianski. Molineux erupted spurred by the contrast with where they had been two minutes earlier. Only forty more nervous minutes to negotiate.
The goal forced West Ham to abandon their defensive bent. But for all their huffing and puffing Jose Sa in the Wolves goal remained untroubled. Wolves could have spared their support further nail biting when in minute 74 first Ruben Neves rattled the bar before the ball rebounded to Ryan Ait-Nourri who hit a post. The ball then rebounded back to Neves whose uncharacteristic blast struck row N of the South Bank. Six minutes of extra time added to the tension but by now Wolves were just about in control, holding on for a vital three points.
In the short time that he has been at Wolves it is clear that Manager Julen Lopetegui knows what he is doing both in how he sets the side up and also in his use of substitutes. The win takes Wolves out of the bottom for the first time in three months a psychological boost that cannot be underestimated.
As for Moyes…. one more game?
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sa 6, Semedo 8, Collins 6, Kilman 6, Bueno 6 Neves 8, Nunes 6, Moutinho 7 Sub Traore, Podence 7 Sub Ait Nourri, Hee Chan 6 Sub Leminha, Cunha 7 Sub Jimenez
West Ham United: Fabianski 6, Ogbonna 6, Coufal 6, Aguerd 6, Cresswell 6, Bowen 6, Rice 7, Soucek 5 Sub Benrahma, Paqueta 6, Antonio 6, Fornals 5 Sub Scamacca
Attendance: 31,000
Referee: Simon Cooper 8
©Mark Brennand