Liam Keen
Published12th Apr 2026, 12:34 BST
Updated13th Apr 2026, 08:30 BST
Wolves’ trip to the London Stadium was a big step backwards for Rob Edwards and his team.
Supporters waited the best part of a month to see their team play again and they left the capital with a scoreline that only damages the momentum Wolves have been building.
Although relegation has always been the likely outcome this season - and is almost certain after this latest defeat - Edwards has been taking the team in the right direction.
Wins over Aston Villa and Liverpool were huge, while a comeback point at Brentford continued a positive run that has been built over months of work to get this team up to speed.
It even had some dreaming of a great escape from relegation, but more importantly Wolves were bringing back some positivity, giving the fans something to enjoy and building some momentum ahead of a crucial summer and attempt to bounce back next season.
But after a 25-day break, Wolves served up a 4-0 defeat that will only damage the good will they have created in recent months.
It probably was not a 4-0 game based on the performance, but several individual mistakes handed the Hammers a chance to boost their own survival hopes and undo some of the good work Wolves have done.
One defeat does not set Wolves back to square one, but it certainly damages what they have been building and the fans that travelled to London on Friday night deserved better.
Wolves started the game fairly well and were impressive in possession. There was a confidence in the players that saw them knock the ball around well and they were able to find key players in dangerous areas to create some chances.
Angel Gomes, coming into the team for Mateus Mane, was often found in-between the lines in pockets of space and he was looking forward with his passes as Adam Armstrong made intelligent runs.
West Ham quickly identified that problem and pressed A.Gomes more aggressively, which highlighted his issues with his physicality.
The hosts also created some chances in an even and competitive first half. There was very little to separate the two teams.
But individual mistakes eventually did separate them as West Ham took the lead shortly before half-time.
Firstly, there was a mistake from the officials as the corner should have been a goal-kick after the ball came back off Jarrod Bowen.
Despite that, Wolves needed to deal with the danger much better. Ladislav Krejci cleared the initial ball but as Bowen aimed to deliver the ball again, Jackson Tchatchoua was too slow to get out to him and allowed the attacker to too easily cut onto his left foot and cross again.
As the ball came in, Yerson Mosquera was marking Konstantinos Mavropanos but stepped away from the defender to allow Krejci to take his man. That lack of communication meant the Greek centre-back was free to attack the ball as Krejci could not react in time.
That was frustrating, but the game was decided in two second half minutes as Wolves shipped two more goals in embarrassing fashion.
Mane gave the ball away for the first just five minutes after coming on, as Taty Castellanos swept home.
Wolves have a tendency to lose their heads and become a chaotic mess in difficult scenarios, which is exactly what happened from kick-off after that second goal.
Joao Gomes gave the ball away cheaply, Bowen raced forward and Castellanos was once again the beneficiary of terrible Wolves defending.
A late fourth goal, and chances for West Ham to score more, meant Wolves limped to the final whistle with a whimper.
Krejci - who did not cover himself in glory at the London Stadium - at least had the sense to call out the errors after the game.
He said: “In the second half from our mistakes we give them the chances and it’s unacceptable how many goals we conceded.
“From our side, we apologise to the fans, not just for this game, but we know our situation and it won’t help us in the table. We could get closer, but we didn’t.
“The situations that we created, we gave them the chance to score, from our side. I don’t want to point fingers because we were all there, in those situations, but we cannot do that at this level.”
To add insult to injury, Mosquera will now miss the next two games against Leeds and Spurs after getting his 10th yellow cards and a two-game suspension.
Edwards rightly said before the game that the players on nine yellow cards - Mosquera, Andre and J.Gomes - have to stay away from avoidable bookings due to their own actions.
Mosquera’s decision to gesture for a yellow card for a West Ham player meant he was served one and, knowing the position he was in, it was a ridiculous thing for the player to do.
He has let himself and his team-mates down and will have to learn his lesson.
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