Rob Edwards’ men leveraged the positives from a 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Tuesday brilliantly in the early going here, as they flew out of the traps and raced into a fourth-minute lead.
Mateus Mane expertly turned away from pressure in the midfield and found Hwang Hee-chan down the left, and the Korean drove to the byline before cutting back and finding Jhon Arias, who converted his first Wolves goal on the slide to the delight of the home crowd.
West Ham may have rescued eight points from losing positions this term, but their response was uninspiring to say the least, with a distinct lack of quality in the final third continually undermining their efforts.
The beleaguered travelling supporters could hardly believe their eyes on the half-hour when Soungoutou Magassa felled Mane inside the box, handing the hosts a penalty. Hwang failed to convert from 12 yards when these two sides met here in the Carabao Cup earlier in the season, but made no mistake this time to double Wolves’ lead.
The jubilant home support jokingly chanted in support of former boss Nuno Espirito Santo, who was staring down the barrel with his current employers, and things could’ve been even worse had Alphonse Areola not pulled off a brilliant reaction stop to thwart Tolu Arokodare.
That proved only a temporary reprieve for the Hammers, who fell three behind before half-time when the magnificent Mane got the reward his performance had merited. The 18-year-old cut in from the left and arrowed a strike into the near bottom corner to register his first senior goal and cue a mass exodus in the away end.
Despite a half-time double substitution, West Ham still found little encouragement after the restart, with an acrobatic strike from Jarrod Bowen that went over the bar as close as they came to an early reply.
Areola was the first goalkeeper to be worked after the break when he denied Hugo Bueno, before Jorgen Strand Larsen - heavily linked with a move to West Ham - headed wide of the upright.
West Ham continued to wilt, and they were indebted to Areola once more as he denied Mane from distance.
While the Old Gold were ultimately unable to add to their lead, ending a five-match losing run at Molineux makes this the perfect start to 2026 for Wolves.
Pressure now ramps up on West Ham boss Nuno, who has overseen a nine-match winless PL run as his side remain four points adrift of safety ahead of a crunch meeting with 17th-placed Nottingham Forest in their next league fixture.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mateus Mane (Wolves)
