Wolves 1 West Ham 2
Two sides met at Molineux looking for points to bolster their hopes of European qualification. With only three points separating the teams, Gary O’Neil’s side had the chance to go above West Ham in the Premier League table with victory.
Ait-Nouri seems to have had some transformation during the season. He started off as a left-back for Wolves and is now morphing into some Mohamed Salah clone. He burst through the middle of the park and dribbled the ball all the way to the West Ham box before a last-ditch tackle denied him.
Given the form of the Wolves player, the hierarchy of Liverpool may need to check they still have the real Salah and not some lookalike. On current form Ait-Nouri plays, and looks, more like the Egyptian King than Mo Salah does.
As West Ham failed to clear the corner, Joao Gomes worked it into the path of Doyle. He looked to pass the ball into the far corner but Fabianski got down to make a brilliant one-handed stop. The warning signs were there for David Moyes’ side.
Credit: @Wolves
Doyle then found Ait-Nouri in the box and Emerson slid in and brought the tricky midfielder down. The referee pointed to the spot. Sarabia stepped up and slotted home off the inside of the post to give the hosts the lead.
Wolves headed into the interval ahead and everything seemed to be going according to plan for Gary O’Neil. West Ham had barely given Jose Sa anything to do in the first half, with the hosts dominating the game. More of the same would have been the half-time team talk.
The Hammers thought they had equalised soon after the restart. Kudus whipped in a teasing ball from the right which Emerson headed in at the back post. The referee cut celebrations short as he awarded a free kick to Wolves for a foul on the defender.
Replays showed very little contact between the pair. There certainly wasn’t enough to send Semedo crashing to the turf as he did. VAR reviewed it and, quelle surprise, they agreed with the ‘made-man’ on the pitch. Omerta once again prevented a referee’s decision being questioned.
Moments later, Emerson stole the ball from Gomes in the box and looked to cross from the byline. The ball struck Kilman’s hand and the official pointed to the spot for the second time in the game. There was no argument from the player which is always a telling factor.
Paqueta stepped up, stuttered in his run-up, and stroked the ball past Sa into the corner of the goal. The keeper got close but it was a well taken penalty. West Ham were dominating the game in the second-half, a complete juxtapose to their performance before the interval.
Credit: @premierleague
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts. As The Hammers forced a corner, Ward-Prowse came over to take it. Whether he spotted the keeper off his line or it was more luck than judgement, he scored directly from the set-piece.
As he bent his cross into the box, it went straight over the head of the keeper and into the top corner. Not that any of the travelling fans were complaining as he did his trademark ‘golf swing’ celebration. Moyes’ side had turned this game on its head.
In added time, the hosts forced a corner. As it was whipped in, Kilman had a completely free header, burying the ball in the bottom of the goal. Wolves’ players celebrated but then came the inevitable VAR review. They ordered the referee to go to the monitor.
Wolves had a player stood in an offside position in front of the keeper. After watching the replay the referee awarded a free kick to the visitors. Gary O’Neil was outraged on the touchline as well as his post-match interview and you could see why.
The player who was stood there was neither preventing Fabianski from being able to play the ball nor was he obstructing the keeper’s line of vision. David Moyes’ side were gifted a victory as a result and once again Wolves have been harshly penalised by VAR, for the umpteenth time this season.
Did you enjoy this article? Please share to your social media. With one click you can help spread the word and make Solid at the Back the one-stop shop for all Premier League fans.