Wolves finally put an end to a beyond-miserable run by beating West Ham in emphatic fashion, earning their first victory of the season.
Goals from Jhon Arias and Mateus Mané, and a cool Hwang penalty, were enough to see off an overly lacklustre West Ham side under Nuno. Wolves don’t just have more points than a triangle now, they have just as many as a hexagon – doubling their tally and hopefully something Rob Edwards can build on throughout the rest of the season, whether it’s going down fighting or doing the impossible. Finally, a positive article. Player ratings below.
José Sa – 7
Whilst not peppered with many shots, Sa was comfortable with balls into the box and looked confident with his punches. Had one or two slightly shaky moments, such as dropping the ball, but a clean sheet is a clean sheet.
Jackson Tchatchoua – 6
Defended well and closed down a lot of crosses down the attacking left side. Wasn’t the best going forward however, but he did finally run with the ball at his feet.
Yerson Mosquera – 8
Another brilliant display from the Colombian, showing real aerial dominance and a desire to break things down and get the ball forward. For such a live-wire, he appears so composed on the ball and offers quick one-twos going forward. Almost scored, too.
Santiago Bueno – 7
Defended well and kept Wilson at bay throughout the game. Took a frightful knock from Sa early on but he remained composed and steady throughout.
Ladislav Krejci – 8
Despite the previous games, Krejci has always been a reliable presence and that was under a real spotlight today, especially in the second half. Him and Hugo Bueno on the left of defence were exceptional and you wouldn’t have known Jarrod Bowen was on the pitch.
Hugo Bueno – 9
He truly had it all today. Picked up an assist (albeit not a flashy one) for Mané’s goal and created a fantastic chance out of nothing for himself. But really, his stopping of crosses in the second half and constant bombing up and down the pitch earns him a stellar rating for this game.
Joao Gomes – 7
Whilst only 45 minutes of action to speak on, this was still one of his best performances of the season and absolutely nothing of note managed to get through him. Our Brazilian duo are clearly much better off without each other, and it’s only taken two years to work out.
Jhon Arias – 8
A deserved goal will hopefully do Arias wonders for his confidence, because based on this performance, he earned it thoroughly. Retaining possession in the way Gomes and André do, but being useful going forward was a vital cog Wolves needed in their midfield, and it looks like they’ve got it. If Wolves had a right back that was perhaps more technically competent than Tchatchoua, we may see even better link-up play in the future.
Mateus Mané – 9
Wow. Just, wow. He won’t turn 19 until next season, by the way. He’ll be 25 in the 2030s. The way he took his goal was shades of Prime Cunha, and it was his work that won Hwang his penalty. But his ability to drive the ball forward, his trickery, his eye for a pass and his eye for goal are genuinely unmatched in the squad. We travelled to Colombia to find our new Cunha, when the actual Cunha replacement was running rings around the U21’s in Compton.
Hwang Hee Chan – 8
Having seen what is possible today, Wolves fans will be praying his reasoning for coming off is just a knock, as he was practically unplayable today. His burst of pace to give Arias a tap in, and his coolly-natured penalty felt like Hwang at his best.
Tolu Arokodare – 7
Whilst not amongst the scoresheet, Tolu can take pride in his battling performance. Because the Wanderers have been so often on the back foot, Tolu’s technical ability has been somewhat hidden but we finally saw flashes of it today. He must have cutely laid it off to Mané four or five times, and his passing was top notch too.
Substitutes
Andre – 7
A battling display from the Brazilian, basically playing an entirely different half to JG. His passing was so composed, he defended, blocked and broke so many attacks down effectively.
Jørgen Strand Larsen – 6
Appeared a much better version of himself than recent games have suggested, and came close a couple of times. Having been linked away so much, it’s difficult to know how much more of JSL we will see, but this was a better performance.
Tawanda Chirewa – 6
A standard six for Chirewa, coming back from elimination at AFCON. Pressured the opposition well and passed it around to take minutes off the timer.
David Møller Wolfe – 6
Didn’t see much of the ball, but is acclimatising well to life at Wolves and will hopefully be solid competition for Hugo Bueno, but if Hugo performs like he did today, it’ll be tough to get a look in.
