Jarrod Bowen adds substance to sparkle as West Ham's defensive shape pays dividends in Wolves win

West Ham secured a thumping first Premier League victory of the season over Wolves on Sunday evening.

With manager David Moyes picking the team and tactics from home after testing positive for Covid-19, the Hammers secured a win that will have come as a huge relief to their absent boss.

Jarrod Bowen netted a brace for West Ham, while Tomas Soucek forced an own goal from Raul Jimenez and Sebastien Heller scored late on to make the scoreline more emphatic.

Here, Standard Sport's Jack Rosser picks out the main talking points from a West Ham perspective...

First win takes pressure off horror run

As many have done over the last six months, Moyes might well get comfortable working from home if it continues like this.

His West Ham side were facing quite the task tonight. Two games, no points and no manager on the touchline - with Moyes self-isolating after his positive test.

In typically managerial style, Moyes noted in his programme notes that he was “disappointed” to have contracted the virus, but said that he would be in constant contact with his coaches over the phone across the evening.

Stuart Pearce was tasked with being on the other end of the line, no doubt spending most of the evening telling his manager not to adjust his TV set as he watched on from the sofa.

West Ham had played well and got nothing last time out against Arsenal, but still few expected them to so comfortably dismiss a Wolves side they’ve not managed to score a single goal against since their return to the Premier League.

Adama Traore, who ripped through the Hammers to win this fixture following the restart last season, barely left a scratch on the hosts, who - despite also losing Issa Diop to a positive Covid-19 test - look far more comfortable utilising a back three.

Against Newcastle on the opening day they had been poor, against the Gunners unlucky. Tonight the Hammers got everything they deserved. Declan Rice brought composure in the middle, Pablo Fornals was unrelenting in his work-rate while Bowen was a constant menace for the visitors.

Haller rounded the night off in stoppage time when nodding home his first Premier League goal of the season having notched four in two League Cup outings so far.

The three points are timely, too. In a week where - after the drama of Tuesday night - the anger aimed at the board ratcheted up another notch following David Sullivan’s interview on talkSPORT, a win will stem the tide somewhat.

It comes before - after a trip to Everton in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday - West Ham face Leicester, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League.

They can often pull a result out the hat when least expected, but the Hammers faced the very real prospect of reaching November without a point on the board. The only disappointment for Moyes will be that he wasn’t here to see it.

Bowen adds substance to sparkle

For all his running and trickery, it had been some time - since February, in fact - since Bowen had found the back of the net for West Ham. Something he found so natural in the Championship had, naturally, become a little more difficult in the Premier League.

He has been, after Michail Antonio, their most threatening player on the ball since his arrival in January, always causing a problem for opposing defenders with his driving runs down the right.

Until tonight, however, they had rarely brought an end product. But this was Bowen at his best.

It took the quick thinking of Fornals, who swiftly got play under way in the centre circle after Antonio hand been bundled over for a free-kick, to set Bowen free, but from there he was doing what he does best.

The former Hull man drove at Romain Saiss, who tried to show him one way and then the other before, with one flick of the boot, Bowen did away with the Moroccan and whipped a wonderful finish around Rui Patricio and inside the far post.

His second was far less impressive, but perhaps exactly what the Hammers have been lacking in front of goal. In charging in to pick up any scraps, Bowen ensured a claret and blue shirt was first on the scene when Fornals’ driven effort bounced back off the post.

Bowen has brought a far more direct threat to a West Ham side often guilty of passing up their chances. If he can keep up the returns after tonight, then it could be quite the season for the winger.

Defensive shape pays dividends

Not since New Year’s Day - in Moyes’ first game back at the club and against eventually relegated Bournemouth - has London Stadium seen a clean sheet.

The Hammers managed just one more in the League last season - against bottom side Norwich. Moyes has spent the summer, to no avail so far, looking to add some quality to his back four.

But here, in the system he turns to when things start to get shaky, the Hammers finally held firm.

In the heart of the back three, flanked by Fabian Balbuena and Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna was a constant conductor, screeching instructions at those alongside and in front.

Even Arthur Masuaku, so often liable on the defensive side, was impressive up against Traore (after a couple of early scares) and then the new Wolves wonderkid, Fabio Silva.

Moyes is on a desperate search for consistency from his Hammers side. So long as they continue to shoot themselves in the foot with errors at the back, progress under the Scot will be hard to find.

Here they were so well balanced. Bowen, Fornals and Soucek were all instrumental in the goals, but also tireless in their work off the ball. Soucek looked so imposing alongside Rice in the middle, with the two wide players running more than most in order to protect before looking to provide.

It’s just one result, of course. But with the games coming up, confidence at the back is going to be the most important building block when it comes to moving forward.

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West Ham 4-0 Wolves: Bowen nets brace as Hammers win in Moyes' absence