Wolves 3 (Arias 4, Hwang (pen) 31, Mane 41) West Ham 0
Wolves kicked off 2026 with their first Premier League win of the season, and first under Rob Edwards, impressively seeing off West Ham United by three goals to nil at Molineux.
Jhon Arias got Wolves’ outstanding first-half display underway, with the Colombian netting his first for the club, before Mateus Mane was fouled for a penalty after half an hour.
Hee Chan Hwang’s composed finish from the spot doubled the Old Gold’s lead, before Mane also opened his own account for Wolves with a superb strike just shy of the interval.
A goalless second half followed, but a professional 45 minutes proved more than enough for Edwards and his side to secure not only their first victory, but their first clean sheet of the league campaign.
Proceedings at Molineux were underway quicker than normal, with Wolves scoring their earliest goal of the season inside just four minutes. Mane received the ball excellently on the half-turn before feeding Hwang, with the South Korean squaring a ball across goal for Arias to arrive and steer home.
Wolves ensured no complacency crept in following their opener, comfortably limiting their opposition to few opportunities and no attempts at goal 25 minutes in.
Moments later, Molineux grew louder as they watched the home side double their advantage. Mane was brought down inside the penalty area, before Hwang stepped up to calmly convert the spot-kick.
The home side refused to let up as they could have, and possibly should have, further extended their lead not long after. Tolu Arokodare met Joao Gomes’ delivery with a header from close range, but Alphonse Areola’s outstretched leg brilliantly denied the Nigerian.
However, Wolves’ best first half performance of the season did not finish there. Mane, influential throughout the afternoon, picked up the ball inside the final third before superbly finding the back of the net with an arrowed long-range effort.
Half-time | Wolves 3-0 West Ham
The visitors wasted no time after the restart in registering their first attempt of the game, although Jarrod Bowen watched his audacious overhead kick blaze over the crossbar.
Moments later, Konstantinos Mavropanos struck off target as West Ham continued to have the better of the restart, but came no closer than with both miscued efforts.
Wolves, however, wrestled back momentum and came close on two occasions. Firstly, space opened up for Hugo Bueno to strike at goal, and, on his weaker foot, he did well to force Areola into a save.
The resulting corner then led to Jorgen Strand Larsen rising highest to meet Arias’ inviting cross, but the substitute glanced wide.
The home side did excellently to diffuse West Ham’s early second-half encouragement, continually frustrating the Hammers as the game went on.
Mane almost notched his second of the game with 10 minutes to play. A moment of magic on the edge of the area got him away from two players in Claret, but Areola was down well to deny the youngster’s strike.
No noteworthy action came in the closing stages – much to Edwards’ delight – as Wolves saw out three points and a clean sheet for the first time this season.
Full-time | Wolves 3-0 West Ham
Wolves | Sa, Tchatchoua, Mosquera, S Bueno, Krejci, H Bueno, J Gomes (Andre 46), Arias, Mane (Chirewa 88), Hwang (Strand Larsen 61), Arokodare (Wolfe 88).
Unused subs | Johnstone, Doherty, Hoever, Lopez, Gonzalez.
West Ham | Areola, Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles, Potts (Soucek 46), Magassa (Mayers 46), Bowen, Fernandes, Summerville, Wilson.
Unused subs | Hermansen, Igor, Pablo, Rodriguez, Earthy, Kante, Golambeckis.
By Callum Greybanks
