West Ham 3-0 Wolves: Mohammed Kudus nabs two first half goals in an impressive display, before Jarrod Bowen seals a comfortable home win for the Hammers
- Mohammed Kudus’s first-half brace put the hosts in a commanding lead
- Jarrod Bowen got West Ham’s third to seal a comfortable win for the Hammers
- Manchester United fans must be DREADING Anfield trip – It’s All Kicking Off
You score, you take a seat, you bask in your brilliance. The Mohammed Kudus celebration.
Tricky to copy on the playground, what with the lack of advertising boards to sit on, but you can bet the school kids in the East End of London will find a way. Kudus is quickly becoming the new favourite of West Ham’s fans, a forward full of speed and silkiness.
Twice we saw Lucas Paqueta play piercing passes in behind Wolves. Twice we saw Kudus pick them up. Twice we saw him bury them before making a beeline for the away end.
As has become his trademark, Kudus celebrated by sitting in front of the opposition supporters, taking a well-deserved breather. There is no shortage of cheekiness to go with his clinical nature.
Paqueta joined the 23-year-old Ghanian on both occasions, with their bromance lifting West Ham to seventh in the Premier League ahead of Manchester United’s showdown with Liverpool.
Watching Kudus, it is hard not to think that Erik ten Hag signed the wrong Ajax winger. Kudus is now on nine goals in all competitions for West Ham this season; Antony is on zero.
Paqueta went on to register a third assist, setting up Jarrod Bowen to complete this commanding win. David Moyes was thrilled. Gary O’Neil less so.
Wolves lost this fixture 2-0 last season. Diego Costa chugged from a can of Red Bull on the bench as Ruben Neves was used in central defence and Pedro Neto tried to play on with an ankle injury, only to end up missing the next five months. The following morning, Bruno Lage was sacked.
There is an identifiable game plan under O’Neil nowadays, using ball-carriers such as Matheus Cunha to be much more direct in their attacking. They had scored in every Premier League game this season except for their opening-day 1-0 defeat by Manchester United, and even then they received a PGMOL apology for a penalty they were not awarded in stoppage time.
Yet it was West Ham who dominated the first half. There was one fan in the home end with a cardboard sign which read: ‘Came all the way from Hong Kong to see Jarrod Bowen.’ She nearly saw him curl a corner directly in with Wolves goalkeeper Dan Bentley nudging it behind.
Wolves’ first chance arrived after 11 minutes when West Ham lost the ball by their own box, but Cunha’s attempt was straight at Lukasz Fabianski, starting ahead of Alphonse Areola.
Other than that chance, the away supporters were given little incentive to get out of their seats, apart from to complain two fouls by Vladimir Coufal and Kurt Zouma deserved more than yellows.
In the 15th minute, Paqueta tried a finish with the outside of his boot after collecting Vladimir Coufal’s cross, but it spun wide. After 18 minutes, Bowen won a free-kick 35 yards from goal. Naturally, James Ward-Prowse took ownership of the ball. He had previous against Wolves, scoring from that very distance for Southampton in the Premier League in January 2022.
His attempt was on target but Bentley, filling in for the injured Jose Sa, got across to deny him.
West Ham took the lead after 22 minutes and it came from a Wolves corner.
The ball was whipped into the box and headed by Craig Dawson but Emerson cleared on the line as Paqueta countered at speed. His pass into Kudus was a peach as he cut inside before drilling the ball beyond Bentley from 25 yards for 1-0.
There were 17.5 seconds between Wolves taking their corner and West Ham scoring their opener, as Kudus performed his trademark celebration in front of the away end.
In the 32nd minute, West Ham made it 2-0 as Zouma won the ball in the build-up before Paqueta played yet another piercing pass into Kudus. He drove forward and beat Bentley, celebrating in front of the Wolves’ fans all over again.
Bowen hoped for a penalty when he was sandwiched by Maximilian Kilman and Joao Gomes, but he was soon back on his feet to send a shot crashing against the post before the break.
Wolves’ fans were frustrated on the hour mark when they thought they had made it 2-1 as Nelson Semedo’s ball into the six-yard box was buried by Pablo Sarabia. VAR Jarred Gillett started studying whose toe was furthest forward and, after a lengthy wait, Sarabia was deemed offside.
‘F*** VAR,’ sang the away support, before adding: ‘Premier League, corrupt as f***.’
In the 74th minute, that lady and her cardboard sign got what she wanted as Bowen made it 3-0. Tomas Soucek won the ball in midfield before Bowen played a one-two with Paqueta, applying the finish into the far corner. Bentley had not covered himself in glory at the London Stadium.
In the 80th minute, Ward-Prowse had another 35-yard free-kick. This time, it flew down the wrong side of the post. He will remain on 17 Premier League free-kicks, one shy of David Beckham’s record of 18.
In the 86th minute, Kudus and Paqueta were substituted by Moyes. Their work was done. This had been an afternoon in the company of their blossoming bromance.
Mohammed Kudus scored twice in the first half as West Ham beat Wolves 3-0 on Sunday
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