As the shot from Taty Castellanos rolled past José Sá and crawled towards the Wolves goal, West Ham’s bid for survival picked up pace. They looked doomed three months ago, but not any more. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side somehow found the motivation to go again after dropping seven points off 17th place in early January and if this escape act does end successfully they will certainly look back to the impact made by their winter reinforcements.
While Axel Disasi has brought order to a chaotic defence Castellanos and Pablo Felipe are starting to resemble a modern day John Hartson and Paul Kitson. An old-school kind of front two, they have altered the nature of West Ham’s attack with their running and link-up play. Pablo, only 22, is a workhorse and Castellanos, who looks quite the find from Lazio, got the two goals his running deserved in this crucial 4-0 win over Wolves.
With Konstantinos Mavropanos also adding an unlikely double against the division’s bottom side, West Ham rejoiced in climbing out of the bottom three and plunging Tottenham into 18th place before their trip to Sunderland. There will also be nerves at Leeds and Nottingham Forest.
The importance of this game was heightened by the difficulty of West Ham’s run before they host Leeds on the final day. Yet it was not as simple as saying victory was a must. After all an improving Wolves were already 2-0 up in this season’s head-to-head and, for all that the table suggested this was a home banker, in reality it was anything but.
Wolves made a promising start, an extra man in midfield giving them options in possession. They threatened through Hugo Bueno, who forced Kyle Walker-Peters to make a goal-saving challenge in the third minute.
West Ham had to feel their way into the contest. They were heartened by Mavropanos replacing Max Kilman in central defence and were almost celebrating Crysencio Summerville’s return from a calf injury when Pablo’s flick released the winger, who stretched and fired over from close range.
West Ham transmitted angst. They struggled to involve their wingers during the early stages. Unable to build in possession, they were happier playing direct to their forwards.
The pressure was doing funny things to West Ham’s execution. Jarrod Bowen snatched at a shot and Castellanos tried to score from near the halfway line. At the other end El Hadji Malick Diouf was relieved not to be punished by Adam Armstrong for losing possession.
Wolves went close again, Mads Hermansen saving Armstrong’s header. West Ham needed Mateus Fernandes to wrestle control of midfield away from João Gomes, Angel Gomes and André. It was better when Fernandes found space. He drilled a cross to Mavropanos, who headed down for Bowen to test Sá again.
Roles were reversed when West Ham punctured the tension with the opening goal in the 42nd minute. A disputed corner was half cleared and came back to Bowen on the right, from where the captain swung in a delivery for the unmarked Mavropanos to rise and score with a header for the second successive home game.
The half ended with Pablo testing Sá and Rob Edwards complaining to the officials about the award of the corner. West Ham remained edgy, though. Wolves stirred after half-time and almost levelled when Angel Gomes struck the woodwork with a free-kick.
West Ham craved the cushion of a second goal. Summerville almost pounced after a mixup in the Wolves defence. Bowen cut inside and shot against the far post. Wolves responded, Angel Gomes whipping another free-kick wide.
Edwards made attacking changes, Mateus Mané and Rodrigo Gomes introduced. West Ham held firm, though, and they were ruthless when their next chance arrived.
It arrived when Summerville won possession and the front two combined. Castellanos surged and Pablo was there to support him. There was a quick one-two, a beautiful backheel from Pablo and then an opportunistic finish from Castellanos, who was falling and under pressure as he shot but still able to get enough power behind it to beat a wrongfooted Sá and give West Ham breathing space.
Wolves slumped and conceded a third from their own kick-off. This time Bowen made the difference, stepping in with a firm challenge in midfield, and he had another assist after teeing up Castellanos for a shot that squirmed in thanks to a deflection off André.
West Ham hardly looked like relegation candidates when Mavropanos, once derided for his clumsy defending, volleyed in the fourth goal.
