West Ham move into the top four
West Ham survived a strong fightback from Wolves to move into the top four of the Premier League with eight games to go.
The Hammers were without key midfielder Declan Rice, who is expected to be out for at least a month. Talismanic striker Michail Antonio had to go off injured in the first half too after he began the game well.
First half
David Moyes’ side raced into a three-goal lead inside the first 40 minutes with Jesse Lingard at the heart of it.
The on-loan Manchester United midfielder continued his rich vein of form with a brilliant dribble that started in his own half. He carried the ball across the pitch and lifted the ball over Rui Patricio with his left foot in the sixth minute.
Lingard helped engineer the second eight minutes later with an improvised flick on the byline to find Arthur Masasuku, who crossed for Pablo Fornals to guide a shot into the far corner.
The England midfielder showed his class again to provide a third for the visitors. He once again carried the ball on the counter and attracted four Wolves defenders to him. He played in Jarrod Bowen, who fired a shot past Patricio at the near post.
West Ham had thrown away a three-goal lead in their previous match against Arsenal and conceded a goal before half time in that fixture.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were given some hope on the stroke of half time when Adama Traore’s wonderful run and cross helped set up Leander Dendoncker to head past Lukasz Fabianski.
Second half
Midway through the second half, Wolves cut the lead to just one goal. Pedro Neto’s precise pass found Fabio Silva, who found the bottom corner.
West Ham ceded possession and sat back but they managed to hold on to a crucial win that sees them leapfrog Chelsea into fourth.
Stat
Since he joined West Ham, Jesse Lingard has six goals and three assists in eight games – the joint most goal involvements in the Premier League.
Featured image: Jesse Lingard of West Ham United celebrates scoring his teams first goal during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United at Molineux. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
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