Wolverhampton footballers waited twenty rounds for their first victory in the English league season. They finally achieved that in the match against West Ham with Tomáš Souček, which they defeated 3:0. Ladislav Krejčí, who played the entire match, also contributed to the win. The leader Arsenal also scored three points, turning the match against Bournemouth to the final 3:2.
Wolverhampton took the lead after just four minutes, when Colombian Arias scored for the first time since his summer transfer from Brazilian Fluminense. Krejčí started the scoring action in his own half with a straight pass.
The second goal was added by Korean Hwang Hi-chan from the penalty spot after a foul on Mané. The 18-year-old Englishman was also one of the scorers 10 minutes later when he headed straight for the post from behind the goal.
West Ham are without a win for the ninth league game in a row and are four points adrift of the first non-relegation position. The deficit of the last Wolverhampton is 12 points.
Leaders Arsenal turned the game around at Bournemouth to win 3-2 to record their fifth straight league win. The match was complicated for the visitors at the beginning by the mistake of the stopper Gabriel, who passed to the home striker Evanilson in an open position in front of his own goal. The Brazilian stopper made amends six minutes later when he headed home a blocked Martinelli shot.
After switching sides, midfielder Rice, recovering from a knee injury, scored twice to record the first two-goal game of his Premier League career. In the end, substitute Kroupi reduced the score with a shot from behind the goal, but the home team was unable to equalize. There are already 11 games to win.
Arsenal lead the table by six points ahead of Aston Villa, who beat Nottingham 3-1 to return to winning ways after Tuesday’s defeat at Arsenal. John McGinn, who returned to the starting line-up, scored two goals, scoring for the first time in the Premier League since the end of September.
Nottingham goalkeeper Victor experienced an unsuccessful match. The Brazilian got his hands on the ball during Aston Villa’s lead from Watkins’ boot in the first half but was unable to push it out of the goal area. Watkins scored in his third game in a row after netting twice for Chelsea and one in the last round against Arsenal as Aston Villa’s 11-match winning streak ended.
McGinn scored for the first time soon after the break but Gibbs-White gave the visitors hope after an hour. But then Victor made a bad run and McGinn punished it by finishing into an empty net. In an attempt to prevent the shot of the Scottish midfielder, the former Botafogo goalkeeper was also injured and had to substitute shortly afterwards.
Aston Villa have won their 11th consecutive competitive home game, the first time they have done so since 1914. Nottingham have lost for the fourth time in a row and are 17th in the table without relegation.
Keep reading
