West Ham 2-1 Wolves: Bowen and Soucek lead Hammers to vital victory for Lopetegui as O'Neil's team suffers another defeat

During a night filled with drama, tension, and controversy, West Ham captain Bowen rose to the occasion as the hero in an intense 18-minute second-half period. The game saw three goals scored, including Matt Doherty's equalizer for Wolves following Soucek's opener, as well as two significant VAR decisions. Additionally, two goals were disallowed and two penalty appeals from Wolves were denied by the officials.

"Some big decisions had a huge impact on the outcome of it," said a frustrated O'Neil afterwards. "I thought we should have had two penalties and it was a blatant foul on [Santiago] Bueno in the build up to their second goal.

"I understand how difficult the job is for the officials but you need some of that to go your way. Some really big calls there we didn't get to go our way. The first goal, potentially not even a corner. A lot of things went against us."

The stakes were put into perspective throughout the night by shows of support to Hammers No 9 Michail Antonio, who has had surgery after a car accident on Saturday, but in footballing terms this appears to have been a significant success for Lopetegui, whose job seemed to be on the line.

It is also a damaging defeat for Wolves head coach O'Neil who is himself under pressure, with his side still languishing second-bottom in the table and four points from safety.

O'Neil can name a long list of controversial calls which have gone against him during his tenure and there were more on Monday night, with West Ham's Aaron Wan-Bissaka rather than Wolves' Toti appearing to get the final touch on the ball before the corner was awarded which unmarked Soucek looped in his header from.

VAR did come to Wolves' rescue when Mohammed Kudus thought he'd tapped in but was clearly offside - and the attacker saw another effort struck off in similar circumstances in the final minutes. But the visiting coaching staff were aggrieved when the officials in Stockley Park didn't recommend an on-field review when Emerson bundled Goncalo Guedes to the ground as he ran into the West Ham box. PGMOL later said VAR believed the contact to have been outside the box - but O'Neil was convinced it continued into the area.

Wolves were level just seconds later, though, with Doherty guiding in Rayan Ait-Nouri's low cross - however, his celebrations for his first goal in a year were short-lived with Bowen almost instantly putting the Hammers back in front with a trademark twisting run and low finish.

He held aloft an Antonio shirt during his celebration and the West Ham fans sang the absent striker's name as their side ultimately saw out an important victory which they hope will be a launchpad. They are now nine points above the drop zone.

Wolves will point to a potential foul from Kostas Mavropanos on Santiago Bueno 11 seconds before that Bowen goal, while yet another VAR call went against Wolves late on, with Mavropanos cleared of felling Jean-Ricner Bellegarde in the box by stepping on his foot. VAR judged it not to be a clear and obvious error from the ref.

Joao Gomes missed a great first-half chance to put them in front but their frail defence was again exposed, with Mavropanos missing a good opening of his own in that first 45 before the damage was done after the break. O'Neil was annoyed by the loose marking on Soucek for the opener.

The full-time whistle saw captains Bowen and Mario Lemina clashing, with Lemina later pushing his own team-mates and coaching staff at the end of a high-pressure night.

Lopetegui: We dedicate this victory to Antonio

West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui:

"We are happy, we dedicate the victory to Michail and his family. It has been tough the last days - the last week - the last days especially. He deserves this. We love a lot Michail, he's a special person for us. I'm sure he'll overcome this bad moment and come back. Today the best thing we can do is get the victory for him.

"The first half we don't start well. We score a set-piece goal, always important. The team showed character and good mentality [after the equaliser]. To have this kind of mentality is going to help us achieve more points.

"We deserved to win, we had a lot of chances, a lot of corners. We overcame one bad moment."

Monterosa