West Ham moved up the fifth in the Premier League as Tomas Soucek scored on his birthday to earn the Hammers a 1-0 win over Wolves on Sunday afternoon.

David Moyes‘ side were fully deserving of the victory and only some poor finishing prevented them from making the result more comfortable. A much-rotated Wolves lacked creativity throughout as they slumped to a second successive league defeat against a European qualification rival.

From the outset Wanderers looked to frustrate their hosts and they enjoyed some success in the opening exchanges. After a while, West Ham did manage to manufacture some openings, with Aaron Cresswell fizzing a free kick just past the post and Michail Antonio seeing a powerful effort kept out by Jose Sa.

The chances kept on coming for the Hammers before the break. Manuel Lanzini had two good openings that he failed to capitalise on, while Declan Rice rattled the woodwork with a long-range shot that looked destined for the top corner.

However, Wolves had the best chance of the opening period with Hwang Hee-chan placing an effort the wrong side of the post when the ball broke kindly to him just inside the box on the stroke of half time.

The away side came out stronger after the break but it would be the Hammers who opened the scoring. The goal was a poor one from a Wolves perspective, as they allowed West Ham to work the ball into the box from a throw-in – where birthday-boy Soucek was waiting to prod home.

The hosts continued to create good openings as the second half wore on, causing issues down both wings only for their crosses to not fall to a claret and blue shirt in the area.

As the game drifted towards its conclusion the tension around the London Stadium was palpable, but in the end the home fans would witness their side see out an important victory which strengthens their top-four credentials.

Here are your player ratings for both teams…

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Lukasz Fabianski (GK) – 6/10 – Had very little to do to be honest. Did fine when he was awoken from his slumber.

Ben Johnson (RB) – 6/10 – Burst forward on many occasions. His crossing was pretty poor, though. Defending was fine.

Kurt Zouma (CB) – 8/10 – Made a terrific last-ditch tackle to deny Fabio Silva in the first half. Defended superbly throughout.

Craig Dawson (CB) – 7/10 – Gobbled up anything in the air. Looked comfortable all game.

Aaron Cresswell (LB) – 8/10 – Went so close with a fizzing free kick early on. Offered a lot going forward with his driving runs.

Tomas Soucek (CM) – 8/10 – Picked up some promising, advanced positions in the first half. Got his birthday goal after the break. Many happy returns mate.

Declan Rice (CM) – 8/10 – Rattled the woodwork with a terrific strike before the break. Typically impressive in everything he did.

Manuel Lanzini (AM) – 5/10 – Showed flashes of his supreme close control but decision making and execution of that final ball was poor.

Pablo Fornals (RW) – 7/10 – Always busy but things just did not break for him for the most part. Played his role in the goal and was great off the ball.

Michail Antonio (ST) – 7/10 – Always hard to find space against a back three, but he caused plenty of problems and carved out numerous chances for his side.

Jarrod Bowen (LW) – 6/10 – A rare quiet-ish game but he still unsettled Wolves‘ backline.

Nikola Vlasic (ST) – N/A

Issa Diop (CB) – N/A

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Jose Sa (GK) – 7/10 – Great distribution and shot-stopping in the first half. Kept the score down after the break.

Max Kilman (CB) – 5/10 – West Ham had plenty of joy in his channel in the second half.

Conor Coady (CB) – 4/10 – Needed to get tighter to Antonio before he assisted the opener. He looked leggy throughout.

Romain Saiss (CB) – 5/10 – A few sloppy moments but certainly not awful.

Ki-Jana Hoever (RWB) – 3/10 – Pretty suspect defensively and did not offer enough on the ball.

Leander Dendoncker (CM) – 4/10 – Just sort of there really. Functional but certainly not flashy.

Ruben Neves (CM) – 5/10 – Got through a shed-load of covering and defensive work. Always tidy in possession but could have done slightly better in the build-up to the goal.

Marcal (LWB) – 5/10 – Defended pretty competently. Needed to do in the final third.

Francisco Trincao (RW) – 2/10 – Taken off on the hour having barely impacted proceedings.

Fabio Silva (ST) – 3/10 – The difference in quality between him and Raul Jimenez is staggering. Worked hard but lacked impact again. Weird that he was not subbed.

Hwang Hee-chan (LW) – 2/10 – Missed a gilt-edged chance on the stroke of half time. A big moment. Floated on the edge of the game before being hooked off.

Daniel Podence (RW) – 5/10 – Not as influential as his manager was probably hoping.

Pedro Neto (LW) – 6/10

Raul Jimenez (ST) – N/A

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