West Ham United move into seventh with three-goal victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers

Mohammed Kudus netted twice for David Moyes's side in the first period, before Jarrod Bowen scored in the 74th minute, with the Hammers moving onto 27 points from 17 matches this term.

Wolves, meanwhile, remain in 13th position in the table, with Gary O'Neil's side on 19 points from their 17 league games during the 2023-24 campaign.

West Ham made the better start to the contest, but the first opportunity of the match came for Wolves in the 12th minute, with Matheus Cunha drawing a smart save from Hammers goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Lucas Paqueta then fired one over the Wolves crossbar in the 15th minute, with both sides having opportunities to make the breakthrough at the London Stadium.

The opening goal arrived in the 22nd minute, and it came for Kudus, who worked the space on the edge of the box before drilling the ball into the back of the net.

Wolves were dangerous, and Fabianski had to make a smart save to deny Cunha in the 28th minute, but Kudus was at it again in the 32nd minute, sending the home side into a two-goal lead.

There was again too much space behind the away side's defence, and Kudus raced into the penalty box before finding the bottom corner with a composed finish.

West Ham came close to a third shortly before the interval, with Bowen striking towards the bottom corner, but the post came to the away side's rescue.

Wolves almost halved the deficit in the latter stages of the first half, with Craig Dawson meeting a delivery from Pablo Sarabia, but his header was wide of the far post, with West Ham leading by two goals at the interval.

The away side thought that they had scored on the hour when Sarabia converted a low cross from Nelson Semedo, but the goal was disallowed for offside following a lengthy VAR check.

Wolves were on the front foot in the period that followed; Mario Lemina had a half-chance in the 65th minute after working space outside the box, but his effort was always comfortable for Fabianski.

West Ham put the game beyond the visitors in the 74th minute, though, with Bowen picking out the bottom corner after playing a one-two with Paqueta.

James Ward-Prowse came close to making it four late on with a curling free kick, but the hosts declared at three, with the result moving them into seventh spot in the table.

West Ham now face a trip to Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night, while Wolves will be aiming to return to winning ways when they host Chelsea in the Premier League on December 24.