West Ham United secured a much-needed 2-1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the London Stadium on Monday night.
The Hammers had lost their previous two league matches to Arsenal and Leicester City, but the latest result has eased the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui.
West Ham were flat and subdued in the first-half, but Wolves were not any better and the scores remained 0-0 until the break.
Tomas Soucek finally broke the deadlock through a brilliant header in the 54th minute. Mohammed Kudus thought he had doubled the lead, but his goal was ruled out after a VAR review.
Matt Doherty levelled the scores from Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross, before Jarrod Bowen steered home the decisive goal after 72 minutes.
However, Konstantinos Mavropanos appeared to foul Hugo Bueno in the build-up to Bowen’s goal, and Jamie Carragher was stunned the referee didn’t intervene.
Analysing the game on Sky Sports, Carragher said: “If the ball is nowhere near him and he wasn’t really challenging for the ball, or the ball goes back post, you leave it. But he is jumping for the ball, he is trying to get the ball, and he jumps on the back of the defender. I mean how is that not a foul.
“It is right in front of the referee. I cannot believe he hasn’t given that”.
"How is that not a foul?" 😮@Carra23 and Jermain Defoe are in agreement that there was a foul in the lead up to West Ham's winner. pic.twitter.com/sYfZCU9nVK
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 9, 2024
Lopetegui was under a lot of pressure ahead of the crucial home game on Monday.
Many believed he wouldn’t survive in his job if West Ham lost to Wolves.
However, the Spaniard masterminded an impressive success yesterday at the London Stadium that will ease the pressure on him.
It wasn’t a vintage performance from the Irons, and they were largely poor in the first-half. But two excellent goals from Soucek and Bowen secured the crucial three points for them.
West Ham will now return to action a week later against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.