Wolverhampton Wanderers secured their first Premier League win of the season in emphatic fashion as a 3-0 victory placed further pressure on West Ham United.

Nuno Espirito Santo's visitors had no answer to a first-half blitz at Molineux as his former side claimed all three points in their 20th match of the 2025/26 campaign.

Hwang Hee-chan teed up Jhon Arias' early finish before doubling Wolves' lead with a 31st-minute penalty (below) won by Matheus Mane, who added a third four minutes before half-time with a rasping drive past Alphonse Areola.

Hwang Hee-Chan scores from the penalty spot

An insipid West Ham failed to register a shot on target in response, with Wolves substitute Jorgen Strand Larsen going closest in an otherwise uneventful second half.

The defeat leaves West Ham 18th and four points adrift of 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who are 12 clear of bottom side Wolves.

How the match unfolded

An expectant home crowd erupted just four minutes in when Hwang darted down the left and found an unmarked Arias to slide home from inside the six-yard box.

Matters worsened for West Ham as Soungoutou Magassa caught Mane late when challenging for a loose ball, with Hwang rolling the resulting penalty down the middle to outfox Areola.

The West Ham goalkeeper then expertly denied Tolu Arokodare's header from Joao Gomes' cross, but was powerless as Mane cut inside from Hugo Bueno's offload and hammered into the bottom-left corner.

Areola still had to be alert midway into the second half to push away Bueno's long-range curler, while Strand Larsen nodded Arias' delivery wide when unmarked near the penalty spot.

Mane almost topped off a magnificent individual performance with another fine goal, beating Bowen on the turn and forcing Areola into more action as Wolves eased over the line.

Joy for Edwards as Wolves finally deliver

A hard-fought 1-1 draw away to Manchester United last time out marked Rob Edwards' first point in charge, and just Wolves' third in total of the 2025/26 campaign.

And they certainly picked up where they left off, as Hwang enjoyed far too much room inside the box to reach the byline and cut back for Arias' first Premier League goal.

Rob Edwards shows his delight after Wolves' win over West Ham

Jose Sa almost spilled a harmless cross as Molineux's anxiousness heightened, but Mane – who impressed at Old Trafford – eased any nerves when beating Magassa to a half-cleared cross for the penalty.

Areola somehow kicked the ball clear when wrong-footed by Arokodare's header, but Wolves would not be denied their third thanks to Mane's maiden strike in the competition.

There was still concern as Gomes was removed at half-time and Hwang limped off just past the hour-mark, though Wolves continued to create chances through Bueno, Strand Larsen and Mane.

And Edwards may feel this was almost the perfect performance as his team – who saw Sa go untested – kept their first clean sheet of the Premier League season.

With Wednesday's trip to Everton up next, Edwards will be desperate for Wolves to build on this momentum and offer supporters hope of moving off the bottom of the table.

Nuno faces sizeable task after joyless return

Nuno had won both Premier League matches as an opposition manager against his former club at Molineux, with Tottenham Hotspur and Forest, and would have been hopeful of a result to kick-start West Ham's 2026.

But West Ham's defensive performance – without Jean-Clair Todibo, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf – was befitting of the freezing conditions as Hwang's early advances caught them cold.

The Hammers did not heed that early warning either, with Kyle Walker-Peters repeatedly exposed down the right-hand side, where two of Wolves' three first-half goals came from.

Lucas Paqueta's absence did not help West Ham at the other end, too, with Callum Wilson and Jarrod Bowen starved of service in an opening period that saw some away supporters heading for an early exit.

They hardly improved after the interval as Bowen hooked an acrobatic effort off target and Konstantinos Mavropanos skewed over, though neither chance looked like troubling Sa.

Areola was still the most-tested goalkeeper from either side in the second half, worryingly for the Hammers, despite their three-goal deficit.

West Ham face tough trips to Spurs and Chelsea (premierleague.com)later in January, leaving Nuno desperate for three points on Tuesday, when they host fellow strugglers Forest.

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