Wolverhampton Wanderers finally claimed their first Premier League victory of the season at the 20th attempt, sweeping aside fellow strugglers West Ham United 3-0 in a one-sided contest at Molineux. First-half goals from Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-chan and 18-year-old Mateus Mané gave Rob Edwards his maiden win as Wolves head coach and secured the club's first league success since 26 April 2025, when they beat Leicester City.
For West Ham, it was another damaging afternoon in a season increasingly defined by turmoil and underachievement. Nuno Espírito Santo's side failed to register a single shot on target against a team that had not kept a clean sheet all season, extending their winless run to nine league matches and leaving them 18th on 14 points, four adrift of Nottingham Forest in the final safe position. While Wolves doubled their points tally to six, both clubs remain deeply embroiled in the relegation battle, but only one emerged from Molineux with any sense of hope.
Lightning start lifts the gloom at Molineux
The sense of catharsis inside Molineux owed much to the way Wolves started. Fewer than four minutes into their new year, Hwang had already offered a glimpse of a revitalised figure with a surging run from deep. Moments later he made that momentum count. Darting into the area from the left, he glided past Konstantinos Mavropanos and, after neat combination play with Mané, cut the ball back for the untracked Arias to slide home from six yards. It was the Colombian's first goal in a Wolves shirt and gave the hosts a home lead for the first time since 5 October.