Wolves fell to their first Championship defeat of the season with a disappointing defensive display at the London Stadium.
Despite looking the more dangerous of the two sides, Cesar Peixoto watched on as Wolves conceded a stunner from Divine Mukasa before giving away a penalty that Jarrod Bowen snapped up.
Marshall Munetsi scored before half-time to raise Wolves hopes but more bad luck early in the second half saw Mukasa net again through a deflection.
Konstantinos Mavropanos scored West Ham’s fourth before then scoring an own goal, under pressure from Jordan James.
But Wolves could not force a way back into the game as they fell to a frustrating defeat.
Analysis
Wolves made a strong start to the game and showed initial intent to win as they attacked the hosts at will.
Mateus Mane was unlucky to see calls for a foul on the edge of the box waved away, before Fer Lopez had a low angled strike claimed by goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.
Mane then had a shot blocked by Kyle Walker-Peters, while the Hammers’ forays forward did not trouble the Wolves back line.
Wolves were also causing problems on the counter attack and Rodrigo Gomes had a good chance to get away but could not get beyond Mavropanos.
From the resulting corner, Raul Jimenez took aim and hit his shot into the turf before watching it come off the crossbar.
At the other end, a poor back pass from Toti Gomes was nearly stolen by Joel Piroe.
Wolves looked the most likely to score and as the ball fell to Mane in the box, he lifted his shot onto the crossbar too.
For all of Wolves’ chances, it was the hosts that took the lead. The ball was worked to Mukasa on the edge of the box and his incredible strike was smashed off the underside of the woodwork.
West Ham had their tails up and nearly scored a second when Piroe took aim but Munetsi cleared off the line, before then coming out to block Mukasa’s shot.
Wolves needed to get to half-time at 1-0, but Andre’s clumsy tackle on Piroe handed the hosts a penalty that Bowen easily converted.
All hope seemed lost, until Munetsi popped up with a clever finish to grab Wolves a goal back before half-time.
But shortly after the restart Wolves were dealt another blow when Mukasa’s shot took a big deflection off Nasser Djiga and looped over Jose Sa.
Any hopes of Wolves recovering were completely dashed in the 64th minute when Mavropanos beat Jimenez in the air from a corner and after a scramble he eventually knocked the ball into the back of the net.
Wolves did get the next goal when James tried to meet a Jackson Tchatchoua cross and Mavropanos turned into his own net
The visitors were still creating some chances, as Lopez had a shot saved, but they still looked vulnerable at the back as the Hammers countered.
In the end, Wolves’ dreadful run at the London Stadium continues, with the club having now lost their last seven matches at the ground.
Key Moments
GOAL 33 Mukasa’s thunderbolt puts West Ham ahead
GOAL 42 Bowen’s penalty doubles the Hammers’ lead
GOAL 44 Munetsi’s smart finish earns Wolves a goal back
GOAL 53 Mukasa’s deflected effort makes it 3-1
GOAL 64 Mavropanos scores West Ham’s fourth
GOAL 69 A Mavropanos own goal gives Wolves some respite
Teams
Wolves: Sa, Tchatchoua, Djiga, Toti, H.Bueno, Andre, Munetsi (Doyle, 66), R.Gomes (Armstrong, 60), Lopez, Mane (Chirewa, 79), Jimenez (James, 66).
Subs not used: Virginia, S.Bueno, Krejci, Lima, Traore.
West Ham: Hermansen, Walker-Peters (Veltman, 56), Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles, Mukasa (Kante, 70), Engels, Bowen, Pablo (Lamadrid, 70), Solomon (Austbo, 79), Piroe (Castellanos, 56).
Subs not used: Herrick, Golambeckis, Mayers, Ajala.
Why why oh why aren’t we using Krecji and Santi???
Defence, Defence Defence! Its fragile and rubbish, and, like other recent seasons, it’s going to keep costing us. Why are Krejci and/ or Beuno not playing!
And, Raul is miles off it.