West Ham United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Hammers beat fellow top-four hopefuls

West Ham claimed a valuable Premier League victory over Wolves to reignite their pursuit of a top-four finish.

Tomas Soucek celebrated his 27th birthday by scoring the only goal of the game for the Hammers, with the Czech Republic international poking home from Michail Antonio's pass.

The result moves West Ham up to fifth in the table, above Arsenal on goal difference and two points behind Manchester United in fourth — however the Gunners have three games in hand on both.

Consecutive draws had seen David Moyes' side lose ground near the top of the table but they created several excellent chances to score and deserved their win over opponents who also have European aspirations.

Aaron Cresswell and Declan Rice both went close to opening the scoring for the hosts, with England midfielder Rice curling a superb 20-yard effort against the right-hand post.

Jarrod Bowen, Soucek and Pablo Fornals all had opportunities to double their advantage and ensure a more comfortable conclusion for the hosts who were forced to withstand some late pressure from Wolves, who stay eighth.

Bruno Lage's team struggled for fluency after he made five changes to the side that started Thursday's defeat at Arsenal.

And while they improved after the break, the second-half introductions of Raul Jimenez, Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto were unable to make a difference to the outcome.

More to follow.

Rate players out of 10 throughout or after the game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle.

7.49

7.45

7.36

6.84

7.53

7.80

8.03

7.57

7.37

7.40

7.45

6.54

6.55

6.16

5.70

5.54

5.50

4.83

8.85

5.17

4.78

4.51

4.90

5.22

5.73

5.19

5.33

Formation 4-2-3-1

Formation 3-4-2-1

Match ends, West Ham United 1, Wolverhampton Wanderers 0.

Second Half ends, West Ham United 1, Wolverhampton Wanderers