Mohammed Kudus magic silences Wolves as West Ham find home comfort
Ed Aarons at the London Stadium
Date published: Sun 17 Dec 2023 19.30 GMT

The stadium announcer described him before kick-off as a "wizard" and Mohammed Kudus certainly has magic in his boots at the moment. Two goals in the space of 10 first-half minutes from the Ghana forward inspired West Ham to a fourth successive home victory that leaves David Moyes's side clutching the coat-tails of the Premier League's top six.

Kudus, who joined from Ajax in the summer for £38m, now has nine goals for West Ham including four in his past three appearances here at a stadium quickly becoming his spiritual home. The only issue for Moyes will be how to replace him next month during the Africa Cup of Nations.

"It's a huge blow for us - he is great to work with," the West Ham manager said. "He scores goals and makes goals and he's doing all the work for us as well. We are going to have to find other ways. We'll hugely miss him."

Gary O'Neil's battling Wolves team were denied a goal by the finest of margins courtesy of VAR but they were no match for Kudus and his co-tormentor Lucas Paqueta, who provided assists for both opening goals and set up Jarrod Bowen's clincher with 16 minutes to play.

"It's great credit to our forward players - that's what Lucas Paqueta can do for us," Moyes said. "I'm pulling my hair out half the time and the other half I'm celebrating because he's making passes that a lot of people can't see."

While West Ham's victory against Freiburg on Thursday was their 10th successive home win in European competition, things have not been so straightforward in the Premier League this season. Before this game, Moyes's team had picked up more points on the road despite the 5-0 hammering at Fulham last weekend and started here like they intended to consign that performance to history.

Dan Bentley - brought in to replace Jose Sa in the Wolves goal with the usual No 1 nursing a shoulder injury - survived an aerial bombardment inside the first 10 minutes courtesy of some pinpoint deliveries from James Ward-Prowse and Bowen.

Wolves showed a glimpse of their threat on the break when Matheus Cunha forced Lukasz Fabianski into a simple save and almost took the lead 15 seconds before Kudus found the breakthrough at the other end. Craig Dawson's header from a corner was going just wide but still needed Emerson to deal with the danger, with Edson Alvarez finding Paqueta in space before Kudus did the rest after cutting inside on to his favoured left foot. It was a stunning strike that left Bentley grasping at thin air.

Fabianksi was at full stretch to save another effort from Cunha as Wolves attempted to strike back but the visitors soon found themselves two goals down. Kurt Zouma intercepted a pass from Mario Lemina and once again it was Paqueta's vision that opened the door to allow Kudus to finish with aplomb, this time with his right foot. "We were nowhere near good enough," said O'Neil, who blamed the defeat on "disastrous decision-making" for West Ham's opening two goals. "Hopefully when we get a few more players back we will give a better account of ourselves."

Wolves had found the net in every match this campaign since their controversial defeat against Manchester United on the opening weekend but could not find a way back into the game this time. They could have been three down at the break had Bowen's shot not smacked off the post moments after the West Ham forward felt he had been brought down in the area. Emotions momentarily got the better of O'Neil just before half-time when he was booked after protesting when Vladimir Coufal was not sanctioned for seeming to use his forearm in a heavy challenge on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde. "Over the course of the game I thought his challenges warranted two yellows and the fact he wasn't booked for that challenge was strange," the Wolves manager insisted.

O'Neil was back prowling the touchline at the start of the second half in the hope of rousing a comeback from his team, with Tomas Soucek blocking a goalbound shot from Hwang Hee-chan. The lifeline they craved seemed to arrive when Pablo Sarabia touched home a cross from Nelson Semedo but after a long delay VAR deemed the Spaniard to be marginally offside. O'Neil could barely believe his bad luck.

Another Cunha shot whistled over the crossbar from a tight angle but the game was up when Bowen picked up the ball in his own half and played a one-two with Paqueta. Suddenly the West Ham forward found himself in acres of space and there was only ever going to be one outcome as he slid the ball past Bentley to seal a comfortable win for the hosts before Kudus and Paquetá left the field to a richly deserved standing ovation.

Daily Mail: MATCH FACTS
West Ham (4-2-3-1): Fabianski, Coufal (Kehrer 90+1), Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Soucek, Alvarez (Fornals 70), Kudus (Ings 87), Ward-Prowse, Paqueta (Mubama 87), Bowen
Subs not used: Areola, Cresswell, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Benrahma
Goals: Kudus 22, 32, Bowen 74
Booked: Zouma, Coufal, Kehrer
Manager: David Moyes
Wolves (3-4-3): Bentley, Kilman, Dawson, T. Gomes (Ait-Nouri 70), Semedo (Doherty 80), Lemina (Doyle 80), J. Gomes, Bellegarde, Hwang, Cunha, Sarabia
Subs not used: King, S. Bueno, Traore, Silva, H. Bueno, Kalajdzic
Booked: Gomes
Manager: Gary O'Neil
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