(BBC) – Taty Castellanos and Konstantinos Mavropanos both scored twice as West Ham thrashed Wolves to move out of the Premier League relegation zone.
Argentina forward Castellanos – signed from Italian side Lazio in January – doubled his league tally for the Hammers with two goals in as many second-half minutes, adding to a first-half header from Mavropanos.
The Greece defender then scored his third goal in as many games with an acrobatic effort seven minutes from time to seal a crucial victory for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side at London Stadium.
The victory means the Hammers leapfrog Tottenham into 17th place, while Wolves remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
Wolves, fresh from a 25-day break from action, made a fast start and could have been ahead inside two minutes had Kyle Walker-Peters not intercepted Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s driven cross.
It took West Ham almost a quarter of an hour to carve out an opening, with Crysencio Summerville blazing over from inside the area after a defence-splitting pass from Mateus Fernandes.
In a half severely lacking in chances, Jarrod Bowen then spurned a glorious opportunity to put the Hammers ahead, unable to steer his volley past Jose Sa after Wolves failed to clear their lines.
The visitors responded by almost taking the lead through an Adam Armstrong header, while Bowen had another effort blocked at the other end following a knockdown from Mavropanos.
But the pair swapped roles a couple of minutes later, with Mavropanos’ thumping header from Bowen’s cross powering the hosts in front just before the break.
After a tame first half, the game burst into life after the break, with both sides hitting the woodwork – Wolves through Angel Gomes and West Ham through Bowen.
Castellanos doubled his side’s lead in the 66th minute after a clever assist from fellow January signing Pablo, before adding his second just two minutes later by arrowing the ball past Sa after another pass from Bowen.
Mavropanos then added gloss to the scoreline with a late volley from a corner.
