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West Ham Utd 4-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers - by Staff Writer - Wednesday, 2nd September 2026 West Ham finally lit the touchpaper to kickstart their 2026/27 Championship campaign with an entertaining win in a six-goal thriller at the LOS. Nuno Espirito Santo had been feeling the heat ahead of tonight's game, having failed to produce a win from the club's opening three matches of the season. Therefore it was no surprise that his smile was as wide as anyone's in Stratford upon hearing the final whistle, which saw his team rise into the top half of the Championship for the first time this season.Four goals, two for Divine Mukasa, making his first home start and a debut for young winger Edvin Austbo were the highlights of a performance which saw little difference in quality between the two teams. but West Ham's quality in front of goal prove the difference. And if the Hammers were looking for a spark to get them going - following a nervy start in which the visitors hit the woodwork twice - it came in the shape of Mukasa's 33rd minute wonder-strike that settled nerves and began an electric half-hour in which the Irons were red hot. The ex-Hammer-on-loan teenager picked up the ball outside Wolves' penalty box following some good approach play by West Ham before unleashing a powerful, swerving drive that fired off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of Jose Sa's net. Even at this stage of the campaign, it'll take something special to beat this to KUMB's Goal of the Season. There was a pleasant surprise - and not for the first time - for the half-full stadium, as West Ham failed to revert to type and instead pushed on in search of a second goal. It was a policy for which they were duly rewarded nine minutes later when Joel Piroe was tripped on the very edge of the penalty box, possibly just outside, allowing skipper Jarrod Bowen to step up and roll the resulting spot kick into the bottom left corner to double United's advantage. The Hammers were allowed to enjoy that brief moment of a two-goal lead for just three minutes before the visitors struck. A retreating Konstantinos Mavropanos was turned both ways by Wolves' Monetsi before he fired into the bottom right corner to halve his team's deficit. Mads Hermansen, who had already nearly been caught out by a looping deflection was unable to get down to the shot, which was well-placed yet took a bounce a long its way. In some ways that goal on the cusp if the interval benefitted West Ham, as holding a one-goal lead dictates a very different approach to possessing a greater advantage. It forced Espirito Santo's side to be more expansive than they may otherwise had been - and were, once they'd added a couple of early second half goals to extend the lead to three. It took the Hammers just eight minutes after the restart to regain that two-goal lead; Mukasa, having received the ball from Bowen inside Wolves' box took aim and saw his effort deflected and loop over a retreating Sa into the far corner of the net. Mavropanos made it 4-1 to the Hammers on 64 minutes when he smashed home a loose ball in the penalty box following a corner on the right - and that was effectively the end of United's attacking intent for the rest of the evening. It may appear unfair to offer criticism in the wake of a solid and encouraging win against a potential promotion rival, but many left the game feeling the final score might've been even more comprehensive had Espirito Santo noy put the brakes on for the final stages of the game with the points assured. Professional it may be, entertaining it is not. It's a fine line which Nuno is yet to find the right balance. And questions were already being asked when Jackson Tchatchoua skipped past Ollie Scarles on the right wing before delivering a low centre, which Mavropanos turned into his own net. With Pablo and Mukasa withdrawn for Keibar Lamadrid and Mo Kante, those brakes were essentially locked down as the Hammers saw out the final 20 minutes plus stoppage time. Late substitute Edvin Austbo briefly lifted a few backsides from seats with a driving run or two on the left flank and Taty Castellanos produced a good chance, but marshalled by Max Kilman - whose own position in the starting XI may now be under threat following tonight's capture of Morato - it was the defence that saw more action in the closing stages. There remain plenty of questions for Nuno and his team defensively - that is inevitable if you concede nearly two goals per game - but this was ultimately a night when the Hammers found the finishing touch that had been often been missing during the opening weeks of the Championship campaign. The win lifts West Ham up to 11th in the table, four points adrift of early pace-setters Swansea City. West Ham Utd: Hermansen, Walker-Peters (Veltman 56), Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles, Engels, Mukasa (Lamadrid 69), Bowen (c), Solomon (Austbo 79), Pablo (Kante 69), Piroe (Castellanos 56) Unused subs: Herrick, Golambeckis, Mayers, Ajala Goals: Mukasa (33, 53), Bowen (pen 42), Mavropanos (64) Booked: Mukasa, Castellanos Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sa, Tchatchoua, Djiga, Toti (c), H.Bueno, Andre, Munetsi (Doyle 65), Lopez, R.Gomes (Armstrong 60), Mane (Chirewa 80), Jimenez (James 65) Unused subs: Virgínia, S Bueno, Traore, Lima, Krejci Goals: Munetsi (44), Mavropanos (og 69) Booked: James Possession: WHUFC 43%-57% WWFC Shots/on target: WHUFC 12/6-17/3 WWFC xG: WHUFC 1.77-0.87 WWFC Referee: Lewis Smith Tickets sold: 59,113 Estimated attendance: 35,000 * Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.