Wolves Beat West Ham To All But End Relegation Fears

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Wolves moved 12 points clear of the Premier League relegation zone with a 1-0 win over West Ham at Molineux.

Jorgen Strand Larsen’s shot deflected in off former Wolves captain Max Kilman and though West Ham pushed for the equaliser late on, the home side held on for a deserved victory that surely ends any lingering fears of relegation for the Midlands club.

Evan Ferguson, making his first start on loan at West Ham, should have put the away side ahead early in the game but could not sort his feet out in time and failed to get enough on Jarrod Bowen’s centre. Wolves went on to make him pay for his miss.

Strand Larsen’s goal owed a little to fortune but Wolves played some impressive football, Marshall Munetsi striking the bar with an opportunity to double the advantage for Vitor Pereira’s side as they visibly grew in confidence, Joao Gomes to the fore.

Graham Potter made three changes at the break and West Ham improved significantly, substitute Niclas Fullkrug hitting the crossbar with a header. But the best chance to equalise came in the 89th minute when fellow sub Tomas Soucek dragged wide.

West Ham missed the chance to move ahead of Tottenham and Everton in the table and stay 16th, just one place and now only five points ahead of a Wolves side who can now count on a repeat of this fixture next season. Bad news for Ipswich and Leicester.

Wolves transformed defensively

Wolves are a different team defensively under Pereira. They had conceded 40 goals in just 16 games prior to his arrival, the worst record in the Premier League. Only Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace have kept more clean sheets than Wolves since.

Emmanuel Agbadou’s impact was illustrated again as he delivered a commanding performance at the back, while Matt Doherty has been a revelation since being reinvented as a right-sided centre-back under the Portuguese coach.

But it is the protection afforded in front of the back three that is just as crucial and this game showcased the qualities of Wolves’ Brazilian duo Andre and Joao Gomes. Their ability in and out of possession was too good for West Ham in the opening 45 minutes.

Their combativeness means Pereira has to remove one sooner rather than later. Both were booked, Andre’s yellow card necessitating his substitution. West Ham had their best spell with him gone but it was too late for Potter’s team to repair the damage.

While the focus has been on another Brazilian, Matheus Cunha, it is significant that Gomes has signed a new long-term contract at Wolves. Pereira has the defensive base now to give Wolves hope that his rebuild can reap more rewards next season.

What the managers said…

Pereira was a lively presence on the bench throughout the game, urging the home crowd to support the team, berating the referee and celebrating wildly at the end. The booking he picked up means he will be suspended for the visit to Ipswich on Saturday.

“It’s difficult, but you know, why we love this, why we have passion for this game? Because this game is like this, it’s like this.”

Referencing Toti Gomes’ late error that presented Soucek with the chance to equalise, he added: “Toti tried to kill me. He said to me on purpose! On purpose, he tried to kill me.

“But in the end, you know, this is why this game is a fantastic game. Because the emotion is like this, like this every time.

“We are in a moment that I cannot enjoy the game, I cannot sit and enjoy the game. I must be there, playing with my players.

“Next game, out of the game, you know, I will be out. My assistant coach [Luis Miguel], out of the game. We are bad guys, very bad guys.”

Pereira apologised to Potter afterwards for his exuberant celebrations at the end, admitting he could not control his emotions and insisting that he meant no disrespect to the West Ham boss.

“I said to him, I’m sorry, but we need points. And they are in the moment that they are relaxing [while still] playing to win, but I’m not in this moment.

“I’m not in the moment that I can control my emotions. I’m not in a moment that I can be in the end of a game that we work a lot, we fight, we do the best of ourselves to win the game, and after, OK.

“It was not disrespectful. It was my passion, our passion.”

Potter himself downplayed the incident.

“No, we were just chatting and he was saying, look, they’re celebrating three points, they’ve had a tough season and he’s had a great impact since he’s been here. So, I understand they’re celebrating their victory and I just congratulate them.”