West Ham 4-2 Wolves: Mukasa Brace Secures First Win of Season
Divine Mukasa scored twice as West Ham secured their first win of the season with a 4-2 victory over Wolves.
The result gave Wolves, who were also relegated from the Premier League last season, their first defeat under new manager César Peixoto, having gone into the game with the chance to move top of the table.
Jarrod Bowen and Konstantinos Mavropanos also found the net for the hosts, while Marshall Munetsi’s goal and an own goal from Mavropanos replied for the visitors.
The win eased some of the pressure on Nuno Espírito Santo on a night when Amanda Staveley, who leads a consortium looking to buy a significant stake in West Ham, was in attendance at the London Stadium.
West Ham started slowly and were relieved when Raúl Jiménez, picked out in space by Jackson Tchatchoua, shanked wide from a good position.
Jiménez soon had a better chance from a corner played almost to the edge of the box, his shot bouncing awkwardly over goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and onto the crossbar. Mateus Mané also struck the woodwork from the left of the box after Kyle Walker-Peters failed to deal with a cross, with the full-back then getting enough of a touch to deflect the follow-up effort wide.
A goal looked to be coming, and it was the hosts who broke the deadlock against the run of play in the 33rd minute. On-loan Manchester City midfielder Mukasa unleashed a rising drive from more than 20 yards that flew in off the underside of the crossbar.
West Ham grew into the game from there, with Munetsi forced to clear off the line from Max Kilman soon after. They then won a penalty in the 40th minute when André brought down Joel Piroe, and Bowen sent Jose Sá the wrong way to make it 2-0.
Wolves responded almost immediately, Munetsi winning a race with Mavropanos before turning the defender and finishing low beyond Hermansen’s dive to make it 2-1 by half-time.
West Ham restored their two-goal cushion in the 53rd minute through Mukasa’s second, the teenager latching onto Bowen’s pass from the right before his effort looped in off Nasser Djiga to leave Sá with no chance.
Sá then denied Bowen from an angle, but West Ham made it 4-1 in the 64th minute when Mavropanos followed up his own headed effort, which had cannoned back off the crossbar, to fire home the rebound, again off the woodwork.
Wolves did pull a goal back in the 69th minute, Mavropanos inadvertently turning the ball into his own net while sliding in to prevent Tchatchoua setting up substitute Jordan James.
