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73 min: Wolves fans singing “stand up if you’re going down”. They’ve been a credit to the Premier League, and their club all season, which has been grim viewing. Let’s wish them well but the gig is up, isn’t it?
71 min: Nuno is getting one over on his former team, when his current team started so badly. Though Diouf swings a boot and almost sets the game back alight before Hermansen comes to the rescue.
69 min: There was just one minute and 39 second between those goal. And here come the “West Ham are massive” songs. Friday night East End knees up it is. See ya dahn the Bow Bells?
Goal! West Ham 3-0 Wolves (Castellanos, 68)
And another! The January signing again…Bowen winning the ball from the kick-off, and Castellanos’ deflected shot has West Ham in dreamland.
67 min: Summerville served as the winner of the ball and then his dummy run allowed Pablo and Castellanos to link.
AS IT STANDS
Goal! West Ham 2-0 Wolves (Castellanos, 66)
The striker scores a huge goal, playing a one-two with Pablo, and steering his shot beyond Sa. That is massive….Hammers into safety.
64 min: Are West Ham going to try and sit on this? Seems a highly dangerous game to play. Summerville shoots, and Santiago Bueno bears the brunt. Diouf, an unlikely candidate, has a dig from distance. It swings wide.
62 min: Wolves corner, Hugo Bueno taking and Krejci nods down and wide. Wolves are, after all, playing for the chance to keep hopes alive.
61 minutes: Two Wolves subs: Mane on for Gomes, Rodrigo Gomes on for Bellegarde.
59 min: Another free-kick chance for Wolves, and this one will be Angel Gomes’ last chance before he’s subbed off. It’s well hit but not on target, drifting by.
58 min: Summerville, who has looked a bit a rusty after his month out, swings in a cross that’s far too close to Jose Sa.
56 min: Wolves have dropped off from that promising start, a symptom of a season where they cannot put 90 minutes together.
54 min: Now Bowen hits the post, just as he did twice against Leeds. Two big chances for the Hammers to kill this off.
53 min: End to end, breathless stuff. Angel Gomes’s free-kick comes off the bar, and suddenly Wolves are wide open. Summerville decides to go for glory, with Sa off his line. He misses the target.
52 min: Castellanos is now booked, and his foul on Santiago Bueno looked like it happened in the edge of the box. No, says VAR.
50 min: Mosquera, booked already, is in the thick of it. He’s another on 10 yellows, and a two-match suspension.
48 min: Bowen forces a corner, and the cavalry pile forward, before Sa, with trouble, palms the ball away. West Ham looking to kill this off, having made that sedated start.
46 min: Back underway, with Pablo kissing the ball ahead of the kick-off. What luck will that bring West Ham? Bowen strides forward but this time his radar is off. That goal was his seventh assist of the season, behind only Cherki and Fernandes.
Spurs fans look away now…though read this from showbiz friend Max Rushden.
Zach Neeley gets in touch: “Not to kick them while they’re down (who am I kidding, that’s exactly what I’m doing) if Spurs are relegated, does that make St. Totteringham’s Day the first match of the season? Or do Arsenal have the greater challenge of finishing in a higher position than Spurs in the Championship?”
Half-time: West Ham 1-0 Wolves
Mavropanos’ header has put the Hammers where they want to be, a place above the drop zone, and Spurs in the bottom three.
AS IT STANDS:
45 min: It’s close to two Hammers goals. The strike pairing, Castellanos and Pablo link, and Sa has to make a fine, low save. Just a minute more in this half.
43 min: It’s been grim viewing, but West Ham have dug out a lead. Bowen, their talisman, was playing like his laces were undone, but then found his touch. Mavropanos, Mavro - Bobby Mavro? – is a fine header of the ball.
Goal! West Ham 1-0 Wolves (Mavropanos, 42)
A disputed corner, Gomes concedes, Bowen takes, the ball comes out, and is arrowed into the box, and Mavropanos nods home. What a delivery, what a header. What a lifeline!
40 min: Some nerves among the Hammers fans. Even more nerves when Walker-Peters cannot find anyone to pass to, and sends it backwards.
38 min: This is not a great advert so far for the return of the Premier League. Long throws and free-kicks, you know the drill by now. From such a moment, Mavropanos nods down and Bowen – again – can’t get enough on the ball to beat Sa.
36 min: Krejci’s long throw, flicked on and Armstrong might have done better. Though the spin on the ball was unhelpful, very difficult for the striker to get any purchase on it.
34 min: Soucek’s chip hangs in the air, begging to be attack. Nobody attacks it. The Hammers just aren’t at it. This is such a huge game. And yet.
32 min: Fernandes fouls Bellegarde, who goes down heavily. Too heavily? Jarred Gillett waves a yellow in Fernandes’ direction. West Ham get Angel Gomes’ kick clear, only for Diouf to lose possession and Armstrong to fire over. It’s all bit too loose.
30 min: Castellanos heads the ball back towards goal, and over. That looks a bit lucky for Tchatchoua, he did catch Summerville though hardly with much force.
29 min: Soucek drops deep to try and sweep up. There’s a huge gap between midfield and attack in the West Ham team. Diouf makes a long run forward, and tries to release Summerville. Did Tchatchoua foul him in the box? VAR clears it.
27 min: Tchatchoua hoiks the ball out of play. Yes, the quality is still lacking.
26 min: This time, Bowen is in the central area, and after Pablo directs the ball in his path, the shot is not hit with enough venom to beat Sa.
