Mohammed Kudus scored twice to help West Ham get back on track in the Premier League with a 3-0 victory over Wolves at London Stadium.
A dominant West Ham looked a different side to the one that suffered a 5-0 thrashing by Fulham at Craven Cottage seven days previously.
Kudus’ superb strike from the edge of the box was followed by a calm close-range effort less than 10 minutes later as the Ghanaian attacker put the Hammers firmly in control at the break.
Wolves applied pressure after the break but Jarrod Bowen made the points safe in the 74th minute with his 10th Premier League goal of the season.
David Moyes’ home side showed little sign of fatigue from the 2-0 victory against Freiburg on Thursday that sealed their place in the last 16 of the Europa League.
This win moves West Ham to seventh in the Premier League, while Wolves stay 13th, 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Keen to avoid a second successive league defeat after last week’s embarrassing afternoon at Craven Cottage, West Ham started brightly with Kurt Zouma, Bowen and Lucas Paqueta going close before Kudus’ low and left-footed strike found the right corner.
Paqueta led the counter-attack from a Wolves corner, feeding a delightful pass to Kudus who charged towards goal before cutting inside and firing past Dan Bentley.
The pair linked up again for West Ham’s second as Kudus slotted home after he was put through on goal by the Brazilian.
Wolves looked more threatening after the break, with Matheus Cunha and Hwang Hee-chan, the club’s top two scorers this season, going closest.
The visitors thought they were back in the game when Pablo Sarabia slid in Nelson Semedo’s ball across the face of goal, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR review.
Wolves’ efforts came to nothing as Paqueta claimed a hat-trick of assists with a clever return pass to feed Bowen, who beat former Hammers defender Craig Dawson for pace and found the bottom left corner of the net.
Kudus’ superb home form continues
Kudus’ celebration sees him sit on the advertising boards and is becoming a regular, and welcome, sight for West Ham fans.
The 23-year-old, who arrived at West Ham from Ajax in a deal worth at least £38m in August, has scored in his last three games at London Stadium.
His second goal on Sunday showed how clinical he can be in one-on-one situations with the goalkeeper and he appears to have created an important connection with Paqueta, who was at the centre of all of West Ham’s attacking play.
Manager Moyes will hope both players take this form into a tricky festive period, with an EFL Cup quarter-final meeting with Liverpool on Wednesday followed by league games against Manchester United and Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Wolves take on Chelsea at Molineux next on December 24, before returning to London to take on Brentford.
Line-ups
West Ham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Fabianski
- 5CoufalBooked at 87minsSubstituted forKehrerat 90+1′minutesBooked at 90mins
- 4ZoumaBooked at 45mins
- 27Aguerd
- 33Emerson
- 28Soucek
- 19ÁlvarezSubstituted forFornalsat 70′minutes
- 14KudusSubstituted forIngsat 87′minutes
- 7Ward-Prowse
- 10Lucas PaquetáSubstituted forMubamaat 87′minutes
- 20Bowen
Substitutes
- 3Cresswell
- 8Fornals
- 15Mavropanos
- 18Ings
- 21Ogbonna
- 22Benrahma
- 23Areola
- 24Kehrer
- 45Mubama
Wolves
Formation 3-4-3
- 25Bentley
- 23Kilman
- 15Dawson
- 24GomesBooked at 45minsSubstituted forAït-Nouriat 70′minutes
- 22Nélson SemedoSubstituted forDohertyat 80′minutes
- 5LeminaSubstituted forDoyleat 80′minutes
- 8João Gomes
- 27Bellegarde
- 11Hwang Hee-chan
- 12Matheus Cunha
- 21Sarabia
Substitutes
- 2Doherty
- 3Aït-Nouri
- 4Bueno
- 6Traoré
- 9Fábio Silva
- 17Bueno
- 18Kalajdzic
- 20Doyle
- 40King
Live Text
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Match ends, West Ham United 3, Wolverhampton Wanderers 0.
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Second Half ends, West Ham United 3, Wolverhampton Wanderers 0.
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Foul by Maximilian Kilman (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
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Divin Mubama (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Hwang Hee-Chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
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Danny Ings (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Thilo Kehrer (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Thilo Kehrer (West Ham United).
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Offside, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Pablo Sarabia is caught offside.
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Attempt blocked. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Maximilian Kilman.
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Substitution, West Ham United. Thilo Kehrer replaces Vladimír Coufal.
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Foul by Hwang Hee-Chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
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Kurt Zouma (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Delay over. They are ready to continue.
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Delay in match because of an injury Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
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Vladimír Coufal (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Vladimír Coufal (West Ham United).
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Substitution, West Ham United. Divin Mubama replaces Lucas Paquetá.
Player of the match
Lucas PaquetáLucas Paquetá
West Ham United
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Squad number10Player nameLucas Paquetá
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Squad number20Player nameBowen
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Squad number14Player nameKudus
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Squad number19Player nameÁlvarez
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Squad number7Player nameWard-Prowse
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Squad number33Player nameEmerson
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Squad number27Player nameAguerd
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Squad number1Player nameFabianski
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Squad number5Player nameCoufal
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Squad number28Player nameSoucek
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Squad number8Player nameFornals
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Squad number4Player nameZouma
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Squad number45Player nameMubama
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Squad number24Player nameKehrer
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Squad number18Player nameIngs
Wolverhampton Wanderers
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Squad number15Player nameDawson
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Squad number12Player nameMatheus Cunha
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Squad number8Player nameJoão Gomes
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Squad number21Player nameSarabia
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Squad number5Player nameLemina
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Squad number11Player nameHwang Hee-chan
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Squad number23Player nameKilman
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Squad number27Player nameBellegarde
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Squad number3Player nameAït-Nouri
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Squad number22Player nameNélson Semedo
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Squad number25Player nameBentley
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Squad number24Player nameToti Gomes
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Squad number20Player nameDoyle
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Squad number2Player nameDoherty