Kudus scores twice as West Ham thump lacklustre Wolves
Wolves haven’t let in a goal from a corner this term and had to battle to maintain that record, with Kurt Zouma coming close with two headers, Dan Bentley tipping over a Jarrod Bowen cross and Mario Lemina blocking Kudus’ effort.
Gary O’Neils’ side then came close with a corner of their own as Craig Dawson met Pablo Sarabia’s delivery. However, Emerson Palmieri cleared to spring a counter that saw Paquetá slip through Mohammed Kudus, who cut inside Nélson Semedo and fired in his third opener in the Hammers’ last five games.
After overcoming more Hammers pressure, the visitors began to look like they could cause problems with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s shot requiring a strong block from Nayef Aguerd. Paquetá and Kudus linked up again to down them, though, with the Brazilian carving the visitors' defence wide open and the Ghanaian providing a calm finish to double the lead.
Bowen came agonisingly close to getting himself on the scoresheet, seeing his effort hit the post and bounce teasingly across goal, before Edson Álvarez put in a brave block to deny Toti Gomes in the final moments of the first half.
Wolves emerged from the break defiantly and shortly after Hwang Hee-chan had seen an effort deflected wide, he slid the ball forward for Semedo to square the ball to Sarabia, who applied a simple finish but saw his goal ruled out after being caught offside by the finest of margins.
Cunha then danced into West Ham’s box and struck marginally over, before David Moyes' side tightened things up again and Lemina resorted to a speculative effort from range.
Bowen then added some extra breathing space, capitalising on yet another Paquetá pass to slide in his 10th PL goal of the season, as West Ham continued their positive momentum after securing top spot in UEFA Europa League Group A, recording the seventh win in their last nine matches across all competitions.
Wolves, meanwhile, extended a peculiar run of not winning any of their last 11 PL matches played on a Sunday.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lucas Paquetá (West Ham United)
