“I’ll watch all the games like I always do,” Nuno Espírito Santo said with a smile at full-time. “We have to focus on ourselves, and today, we did the job physically and mentally.”
For all Nuno’s delight about the potency of his attack, he was particularly pleased with West Ham’s defensive work. For the fourth time in the past eight Premier League games, since goalkeeper Mads Hermansen returned to the side, West Ham kept a clean sheet.
“We were very good on defensive set-pieces. We defended well, defended properly, and we were really positive on offensive set-pieces.”
West Ham’s supporters had cause for cheer even before kick-off. Left-winger Crysencio Summerville returned to the side for the first time in a month, after recovering from his calf injury. In the 14th minute, after a delicate flick from Mateus Fernandes, Summerville almost marked his return with his eighth goal of the season, but slammed the ball over Sá.
Aged 24, there is ample time for Summerville’s finishing to improve. Yet his touch and movement emphasised why Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman said that Summerville would have won his maiden Dutch cap had he been fit during the last international break. Midway through the half, Summerville’s diagonal ball – dropping deep in a manner that almost evoked Paul Scholes – created a chance for Bowen, who scuffed his shot from 12 yards out.
Even if Summerville and Bowen provided the most sparkling moments of the first half, Wolves’s start recalled their 3-0 thrashing of West Ham in January. Within the first four minutes, Wolves had two chances. First, Hugo Bueno almost tapped in Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s cross, but Kyle Walker-Peters narrowly beat him to the ball. Central midfielder André then shot over from 20 yards.
The icy silence as West Ham struggled for fluency emphasised how, for most of the opening half, these two sides looked like they belonged in the same division, not a different one. But, the early skirmishes apart, Wolves struggled to turn their possession into a threat.
West Ham’s wingers remained the two most dynamic players on the pitch. With four minutes remaining in the first half, West Ham won a corner which should have been given as a goal-kick. Bowen’s initial corner was cleared. When the recycled ball landed at his feet, Bowen’s sumptuous cross from the right flank met Mavropanos. Leaping up, the Greek defender’s header had too much power and precision for Sá.