West Ham 1 - 3 Wolverhampton

Posted Wednesday, March 24, 2010 by BBC.com

West Ham 1 - 3 Wolverhampton
The visitors are delighted after the West Ham defence is penetrated again

Wolves made a huge leap towards Premier League safety with a crushing victory over fellow strugglers West Ham.

The visitors went close when Kevin Foley hit the bar and took the lead when a scuffed James Tomkins backpass fell to Kevin Doyle who fired home.

David Jones set up Ronald Zubar to rifle in and then passed to Matthew Jarvis who blasted in for a fine third.

Scott Parker hit a post for West Ham in the first half, leaving Guillermo Franco to chip in a late consolation.

But it was too little too late for the Hammers who lacked ideas and confidence and boss Gianfranco Zola will be concerned as he prepares for the final seven games of the season only three points away from the drop zone.

West Ham, in 17th spot, were facing the team one place above them with Zola calling the clash "a massive six pointer" as he desperately sought to avoid a fifth successive league defeat.

Mick McCarthy's pre-match motivational speech to his players was likely to have pointed towards their opponents recalling star players after a rested few days with Zola having 'targeted' Wolves.

The Italian boss brought back fit-again skipper Parker, along with two strikers who did not start in the 2-0 loss at Arsenal, Carlton Cole and Benni McCarthy, but it was the visitors who ripped open a very nervous defence inside seven minutes.

It was a chance initiated by a long punt from keeper Marcus Hahnemann and created by the two Kevins, as lone striker Doyle headed on to Foley who outsprinted Matthew Upson before blasting against the bar.

And the hosts were caught out again on the half-hour mark when Tomkins mis-hit a backpass to his keeper and Doyle pounced to burst through and neatly squeeze his shot off the post and in for his seventh goal of the season.

McCarthy's mood quickly changed from joy to anger as his side were denied a penalty appeal when Radoslav Kovac clumsily hacked down Jones, but referee Phil Dowd was unmoved.

A minute before the break the Irons finally gave their fans something to cheer about with their skipper going agonisingly close to the equaliser.

Parker picked up the ball 40 yards out and danced his way into the box before firing his shot against the inside of the right post. The ball bounced back into Parker's path and again he was deprived as Hahnemann reacted brilliantly to scoop the ball off the line from the midfielder's rebound.

Both Tomkins and Kovac paid a heavy price for a sloppy opening 45 minutes by being replaced by Junior Stanislas and Jonathan Spector.

Despite the occasional sparks from Cole on the edge of the box, West Ham continued to disappoint as an attacking force, and on the hour it was their defence that crumbled.

Two goals conceded inside three minutes, both created by the irrepressible Jones, effectively ended the contest.

The midfielder picked out Zubar out wide on the right and despite the Frenchman needing to shoot from a tight angle, he showed no hesitation in blasting the ball past Green for his first Premier League goal.

The dissatisfaction at Upton Park soon turned to anger as fans headed for the exits after watching Jarvis turn the defence inside out after picking up a fine Jones throughball and firing low into the net for the third.

The hosts showed some late battling qualities and substitute Franco chipped in after Valon Behrami's threaded pass, but it was all too late.

On the day West Ham's new co-owners, David Gold and David Sullivan, stepped up their bid to occupy the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games, the pair will be desperately hoping their club will still be in the top-flight to enjoy it.