Big news for this one is that Nigel has infiltrated the home fans and has made the game despite a flat battery and then relying on Millwall-supporting builders to help jump-start his motor. Presumably he's had a few pre-match pints with Noddy Holder, Robert Plant and his mate Adrian. If the Irons win we go second. What could possibly go wrong?
West Ham start off quite encouragingly as Bowen heads just wide from Cresswell's cross. But after that it's mainly Wolves as Jimenez jinks wide when through and Fabianski has to tip over a Moutinho effort. Agent Nigel reports that Matt would enjoy the "Mike Dean's a w**ker!" chants and that Antonio looks isolated up front.
The second half sees Wolves all over us according to Nigel. Podence has a low effort saved by Fabianski and then the keeper has to make a fantastic flying save to deny the same player. The deserved breakthrough comes on 58 minutes as Podence pulls back to Jimenez who cleverly passes the ball into the corner from just outside the box.
At least West Ham have some sustained pressure towards the end as Vlasic, Lanzini and Yarmolenko come on. The best chance is when Antonio finds Bowen and after some neat footwork Jarrod fires over the bar when he should score. Vlasic just fails to connect with a Johnson cross and that's it.
Is this where so many games have finally caught up with WHU? Or is it simply a result of lots of our players being away on international duty — Antonio has scored a couple of cracking goals for Jamaica but has then had to be flown back by David Sullivan's private jet (never mind COP26) and must be tired. Our winning run couldn't last forever, Ogbonna is a big miss and Wolves have played well. But looking at the big picture we're still in a great position. Though with tiredness a factor Moyes will now need to shuffle the squad for Thursday's trip to Rapid Vienna.
2 comments:
I managed to get this through the interweb Pete. Of the three games we've lost this was the most deserved. We started brightly but once Wolves got a foothold we sort of became a more traditional West Ham and never really looked in control. As Nigel said we applied some pressure at the end but that was perhaps due to Wolves sitting back a bit. Hopefully we'll see a Liverpool style bounceback at The Etihad! All the best from Kernow....where the sun is currently shining so I'm off to the beach...
Yes it was a bit like the old West Ham to beat the Scousers and then lose to Wolves. Enjoy the beach!
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