West Ham United have climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone for the first time since December following a commanding 4-0 victory over Wolves at the London Stadium.
The result plunged north London rivals Tottenham into the bottom three.
Konstantinos Mavropanos opened the scoring with a first-half header before adding another late on, while Taty Castellanos struck twice within two minutes midway through the second half to seal the emphatic win.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, initially nervous, shrugged off their early jitters to dismantle the league’s bottom club.
This triumph marks a significant turnaround for the Hammers, who were seven points adrift of safety and winless in 10 after a January defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Five victories in their subsequent 11 matches, alongside Tottenham’s apparent free fall, have completely reshaped the battle at the foot of the table, inching West Ham closer to survival.
Mavropanos’s opener, headed in from Jarrod Bowen’s cross just before the break, proved pivotal in setting the stage for Castellanos to double his tally for the club.
It meant Wolves’ brief revival after three games unbeaten was ended. Relegation for them could now be confirmed as early as next week away to Leeds.
Crysencio Summerville had wasted a golden chance to give West Ham the lead after 14 minutes, staying onside to receive Mateus Fernandes’s pass before leaning back and scooping his finish high over the crossbar.
Good work from Pablo to dance his way into the box set up Bowen with a chance he ought to have buried. Instead the shot was tame, bounced into the ground via a mistimed swing of the leg and into the arms of Jose Sa.
West Ham’s wastefulness in front of goal and carelessness on the ball were doing little to calm a restless atmosphere.
El Hadji Malick Diouf drew howls of exasperation from home fans when he needlessly gave the ball away in his own half, letting in Adam Armstrong for a chance that whistled just over.
Armstrong then had Wolves’ best chance of the half with a flicked header that was well-held by Mads Hermansen.
Ladislav Krejci blocked from Bowen following Mavropanos’s knock-down. Wolves had now been warned amply of West Ham’s growing threat but they were breached before the interval.
Their defence failed to clear properly from a corner, the ball was sent back out wide to Bowen who crossed for Mavropanos to rise and plant his header into the corner.
Only a fine low save from Sa kept Pablo from sending a buoyant West Ham in two up at the break.
A wild two-minute spell at the start of the second half saw both sides hit a post, Wolves from Angel Gomes’s free-kick, then Bowen drove inside from the right and smacked the upright.
Castellanos settled home fans’ nerves with a finish into the corner that owed to a wonderfully inventive back-heel by Pablo to set up the chance.
Wolves gave the ball away almost immediately from the kick-off to Bowen, and he fed Castellanos to take a touch and roll in his second and West Ham’s third via a post.
Mavropanos volleyed in a late fourth for West Ham, whose momentum showed no sign of abating.
