While West Ham fans were celebrating a 4-0 win over Wolves last night, the mood elsewhere will have been very different.
As the opening fixture of the game week, all eyes were on the London Stadium — and for Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United, it was not a welcome sight.
Pressure shifts firmly onto rivals
Make no mistake, a result like that changes things.
An emphatic win in a must-win game piles serious pressure on the teams around West Ham, all of whom now have to respond in their own fixtures. Roberto de Zerbi will have spent the last two weeks explaining to his Spurs players how they will escape the dreaded drop. Those words will sound a little more hollow now as his new players were powerless to thwart the drop into the relegation zone.
Nuno Espirito Santp-Paco Jemez huddle
Nino and his backroom team celebrate West Ham’s victory over Wolves
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From nervy start to dominant finish
It wasn’t all straightforward of course. . . it never is, that’s the West Ham way.
West Ham were second best for much of the first half, and the nerves were there to see. From the outside, that may have looked like a team struggling to cope with the pressure.
But whatever rousing words were uttered at half-time worked.
Second-half response sends a message
West Ham came out after the break and delivered a performance that will not have gone unnoticed by their rivals.
A 4-0 win at this stage of the season, after spending so long in the relegation zone, is no small statement.
Rivals now face the test
Now the focus shifts elsewhere.
Tottenham travel to Sunderland, Nottingham Forest face Aston Villa, and Leeds United — dealing with injuries picked up last week — head to Manchester United.
A rare chance to watch and wait
For once, West Ham have done their part early.
Now it’s a case of sitting back and watching how the rest respond to the pressure.