West Ham tame Wolves to break back into top four

WOLVERHAMPTON: West Ham United boosted their hopes of finishing in the Premier League top four and earning a Champions League berth after an impressive first half helped them to a 3-2 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.

West Ham moved three places up to fourth on 52 points from 30 games, one more than fifth-placed Chelsea and three ahead of sixth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in seventh. Wolves stayed 14th on 35 points.

Jesse Lingard, Pablo Fornals and substitute Jarrod Bowen, who replaced the injured Michail Antonio, fired the Hammers into a 3-0 lead before Leander Dendoncker pulled one back for the home side in an action-packed first half.

Fabio Silva struck for the resurgent Wolves midway through the second but the home side were unable to make their late pressure count as the visitors held out in the closing stages.

Lingard fired West Ham ahead after a darting solo run from his own half in the sixth minute and Fornals made it 2-0 in the 14th with a deft side-footed shot before Bowen added the third with a 38th-minute effort.

Dendoncker's header in the 42nd hauled Wolves back into the contest and West Ham were forced to hang on in the final 20 minutes after Silva beat visiting goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski with a neat finish.