- Jorgen Strand Larsen’s scored from the edge of the box after 21 minutes
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Unpack the flip-flops and Bermuda shorts, get out the bucket and spade. Wolves are on their way to the beach and Premier League survival – it’s just a shame the nearest coastline is nearly 100 miles away.
Jorgen Strand Larsen’s first-time strike was enough to secure victory over West Ham and move them 12 points clear of the relegation zone with a game this weekend against Ipswich that could surely put any lingering hopes to bed.
The Wolves striker, who scored twice in another huge win against Southampton before the international break, should have had a second in the second-half too but put a decent effort wide before Marshal Munetsi spurned a golden chance to put the game to bed in the dying moments.
How they might have been made to pay for that wastefulness late on only for Niclas Fullkrug to encapsulate West Ham’s plight in front of goal this season by scuffing a great chance.
This was a contest that told you everything about where these two sides sit in a season that is petering out into nothingness.
Wolves pressed with the hunger of a team that know they are so nearly safe and sound. West Ham shrugged their shoulders with the apathy of a team that knows they already are.
Wolves are on their way to the beach and Premier League survival after beating West Ham
Jorgen Strand Larsen’s first-time strike was enough to secure victory over the Hammers
The latest win at the Molineux has moved Wolves 12 points clear of the relegation zone
For West Ham and Graham Potter, it’s all about next season now and you could tell. They, too, owe a debt of gratitude to the promoted sides for failing to put up any sort of fight this term.
Evan Ferguson should have put West Ham ahead early on when Jarrod Bowen squared the ball across goal for an easy tap in only for the on-loan striker to overrun the pass and make a hash of his effort.
Potter took him off at half-time and until his replacement Fullkrug, who also hit the bar with a header in his first appearance since picking up a hamstring injury in January, spurned his late chance they never really looked like threatening the Wolves goal.
Wolves, however, looked dangerous. Toti forced a fine save from Alphonse Areola with his flicked near-post header before Strand Larsen fired in the opener from the edge of the area via a cruel deflection off former Wolves defender Max Kilman.
The cameras cut to the suspended Matheus Cunha, who celebrated with glee while his team-mates showed they can still win without their talisman.
They should have had a second too when Joao Gomes danced through the motionless Hammers defence and Strand Larsen prodded it into the path of Mashall Munetsi but he could only rattle the bar.
A half-time triple substitution and a switch to a back four didn’t make much difference for Potter’s side until the end.. For the most, the game just got more scrappy and referee Tony Harrington dished out more yellow cards in a game he barely had any control over.
This is essentially an extended pre-season for Potter’s side now and a chance for him to work out which players he wants to keep for next season while Lucas Paqueta made his first appearance since his FA spot-fixing trial began and was West Ham’s best player.
Strand Larsen fired in the opener from the edge of the box via a cruel deflection off Max Kilman
West Ham squandered a number of chances, with several players failing to impress
The others who were given the chance, like teenage winger Luis Guilherme, failed to take it.
Wolves did and the roars that greeted the final whistle told you exactly how much it meant to them and how close they now are to another season in the Premier League.
