West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen scored a goal midway through the second half to secure a deserved 2-1 Premier League win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday, whose poor defending cost them yet again, leaving them second in the table.
Wolves conceded three minutes after the equalizer and remain in 19th place with nine points from 15 games, while West Ham are 14th with 18 points. Wolves’ 38 goals conceded is the highest number of goals conceded in the top flight this season.
After the ninth minute of the match, there was applause for 34-year-old Hammers striker Michail Antonio, who is recovering in hospital after surgery on a broken leg suffered in a car accident on Saturday.
With both managers – West Ham’s Julen Lopetegui and Wolves’ Gary O’Neil – struggling to turn things around after their teams’ disappointing start to the season, the pre-match talk was about whose job was most at risk.
After taking numerous set-pieces in a goalless first half, it was Lopetegui’s Hammers who broke the tie in the 54th minute with Tomas Soucek’s 10th corner kick.
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Wolves’ defense left the Czech midfielder without a shot at the far post and he sent a looping header wide and into the net.
It was Wolves’ eighth goal conceded from a corner and 15th from a set piece, excluding penalties, more than any other top-flight team.
Wolves managed to equalize through Matt Doherty in the 69th minute with a superbly executed volley into the corner, shortly after a penalty was strongly dismissed.
The lead didn’t last long as Wolves’ defensive weaknesses were once again exposed and Bowen drove a left-footed effort into the box before burying the ball in the corner three minutes later.
After conceding a goal shortly after the equalizer, Wolves struggled to gain momentum and, apart from a few innocuous shots off target, barely threatened West Ham’s goal in the final minutes as the hosts comfortably held on to win.
