LONDON (AP) — West Ham defeated fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-0 on Friday, dropping Tottenham into the Premier League drop zone for the first time this season.
Spurs were two points behind the Hammers heading into Sunday’s game against Sunderland.
Konstantinos Mavropanos put the Hammers up 1-0 with a header just before half-time, before Valentin Castellanos scored twice in the opening three minutes of the second half.
Konstantinos scored with seven minutes remaining with an acrobatic volley from a corner kick.
Wolves remained bottom of the league, with relegation almost certain.
A memorable first half saw neither team do well, but West Ham took the lead with a goal from Jarrod Bowen’s cross from Mavropanos.
Castellanos scored his second goal 66 minutes later with a cheeky assist from Pablo, and three minutes later he added a third with a low shot, aided by a slight deflection.
Konstantinos’ fourth goal added sparkle to the home side as they celebrated their first league win in over a month.
Hammers manager Nuno Espirito Santo said: “I’m very happy.” “We all deserve a night like this, especially the fans. The London Stadium was amazing. Even when the game was tough, it was bouncing with energy.”
“We recognize that there is still a lot of work to do. Today we took a big step, which was important to us, but nothing has changed.”
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
