The person announcing at the stadium referred to him as a “wizard” before the game began, and Mohammed Kudus is definitely showing some magical skills on the field. He scored two goals within 10 minutes in the first half, which gave West Ham their fourth consecutive win at home. This puts them in close competition with the top six teams in the Premier League, according to manager David Moyes.
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.
This news is a major setback for us, as our manager expressed, as he is a fantastic teammate to have. He contributes to our success by scoring and creating goals, and he also puts in a lot of effort for the team. We will now have to come up with alternate strategies. His absence will be greatly felt.
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 Paquetá, who provided assists for both opening goals and set up Jarrod Bowen’s clincher with 15 minutes to play.
Moyes praised our offensive players, specifically highlighting Lucas Paquetá’s contributions. He expressed mixed emotions of frustration and joy as he watches Paquetá make seemingly impossible passes.
Although West Ham has been successful in their past 10 home games in European competitions with their win against Freiburg on Thursday, their performance in the Premier League this season has not been as smooth. Prior to this game, Moyes’ team had earned more points away from home, despite their 5-0 loss against Fulham last weekend. They began this game determined to put that defeat behind them.
Dan Bentley was brought in to take the place of José Sá in the Wolves goal, as Sá was nursing a shoulder injury. In the first 10 minutes, he successfully defended against an onslaught of aerial attacks from James Ward-Prowse and Bowen.
The Wolves displayed their dangerous potential on a counterattack as Matheus Cunha’s shot was easily saved by Lukasz Fabianski. Shortly after, Kudus scored the first goal for his team. Craig Dawson’s header from a corner was headed towards the goal but Emerson had to make a save, and Edson Álvarez passed to Paquetá who then set up Kudus to score with his left foot. It was an impressive goal that left Bentley unable to stop it.
Fabianksi made an incredible save to deny another shot by Cunha as Wolves tried to counter, but they quickly fell behind by two goals. Zouma intercepted a pass from Lemina and Paquetá’s brilliant pass set up Kudus to score confidently with his right foot. O’Neil admitted that their performance was far from satisfactory, attributing the loss to poor decision-making for West Ham’s first two goals. He hopes that with more players returning, they will be able to put up a stronger fight in the future.
The Wolves team had successfully scored in every game of their current season, except for their disputed loss to Manchester United in the first match. However, they were unable to make a comeback in this particular game. They were lucky to avoid a three-goal deficit before half-time when Bowen’s shot hit the post, shortly after he believed he was fouled in the penalty area. O’Neil’s emotions got the best of him right before the end of the first half, resulting in a booking as he protested against referee’s decision not to penalize Vladimir Coufal for using his forearm in a harsh tackle on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
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During the game, I believed that his actions deserved two yellow cards and it was odd that he was not given one for that particular challenge,” stated the manager of Wolves.
The Wolves coach returned to pacing the sidelines at the beginning of the second half, hoping to inspire his team to make a comeback. However, their efforts were thwarted when Tomas Soucek blocked a shot from Hwang Hee-Chan that was headed for the goal. The team’s desired opportunity for a comeback appeared to come when Pablo Sarabia scored off a cross from Nelson Semedo, but after a lengthy review, VAR ruled the Spaniard to be just slightly offside. O’Neil was left stunned by his unfortunate circumstances.
A shot by Cunha narrowly missed the crossbar from a difficult angle, but the game was essentially over when Bowen received the ball in his own half and exchanged passes with Paquetá. The West Ham player suddenly had a lot of room to work with and it was clear that he would score as he smoothly placed the ball past Bentley, securing an easy victory for the home team. Kudus and Paquetá were then substituted to a well-earned round of applause from the fans.
Source: theguardian.com
