After days of speculation about the futures of West Ham United manager Julen Lopetegui and his Wolverhampton Wanderers counterpart Gary O’Neil, this meeting between their teams was widely seen as crucial to both men’s respective job prospects.

Lopetegui has had a difficult start to life at the London Stadium, so this win – thanks to goals from Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen – will be a huge relief.

Wolves had canceled out Soucek’s header when Matt Doherty struck and twice thought they had been awarded a penalty in the second half, but both VAR reviews were in the home side’s favour.

The defeat leaves Wolves in 19th place, four points behind safety, and O’Neil’s position becomes increasingly uncertain.

Tim Spiers, Roshane Thomas and Steve Madeley analyze the key talking points.

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What does this result mean for managers?

This was called El Sackico before kick-off as both managers were probably just one defeat away from the sack… and with the Wolves on the losing side, it’s hard to see how O’Neil keeps his job now.

The club has been looking for a new head coach for some time, but wins over Southampton and Fulham bought time for O’Neil. However, heavy defeats against Bournemouth (4-2), Everton (4-0) and now a defeat against West Ham have certainly made his position untenable.

It didn’t look like his players had lost their strength – the effort was there, they rallied to score an excellent equalizer through the recalled Doherty and in the closing stages there was a late push for another equalizer as well as a very good appeal for a punishment rejected.

But Wolves’ biggest problem is their weak, weak defense, highlighted here by two poor goals for West Ham, particularly the first where Soucek’s tame header bounced apologetically off the back post.

In a desperately quiet away game there wasn’t much anger to be heard, just resigned apathy and indifference.

Wolves were eighth at the start of March and were dreaming of Europe last season, but since then they have only beaten Southampton, Fulham, Luton Town and Burnley (in the Carabao Cup) and are now four points behind safety. O’Neil did a good job last season, but under him they conceded 103 goals in 53 league games.

15 – Wolves have conceded the highest number of 15 goals from set pieces (excluding penalties) this Premier League season – only in the 2003–04 (20) and 2011–12 (18) relegation campaigns have they conceded more such goals in a single campaign in competition.…

– OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 9, 2024

As for West Ham and Lopetegui, this narrow win puts the team nine points clear of the relegation zone, but the Spaniard remains unpopular and unconvincing and it remains to be seen whether he can last until next Monday’s trip to Bournemouth.

By the final whistle there were swathes of empty seats around the London Stadium in a desperately subdued atmosphere, reflecting two teams, fan bases and managers waiting for the inevitable.

Tim Spiers

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Bowen steps in when West Ham need him

This season, West Ham’s defensive weakness has been their downfall. They kept just three clean sheets in 15 league games and it looked like that would hurt them again when Doherty equalized from Soucek’s header.

But as has often been the case in recent seasons, Bowed stepped up when his team needed him and raised the spirits to score his fourth goal of the season and secure a win that would potentially give his manager a stay of execution.

The result shouldn’t obscure the fact that West Ham put in an uninspiring first-half performance just when they really needed a performance, culminating in a few boos from fans at half-time.

But after the break they impressed offensively, with Bowen and Mohammed Kudus testing Wolves’ defence.

Kudus had an attempt ruled out for offside but in the end they held on. The manner of their second-half performance will give Lopetegui some encouragement, but the question now will be whether it will be enough to convince the club’s decision-makers that he deserves more playing time.

Roshane Thomas

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How were West Ham affected by Antonio’s accident?

This was West Ham’s first game since striker Michail Antonio was involved in a car accident at Coppice Row, Epping on Saturday. The 34-year-old underwent surgery for a lower limb fracture and is recovering in a central London hospital.

His teammates wore “Antonio 9” jerseys during warm-ups and kept them on when they entered the field at the start of the game. West Ham will auction the shirts, with each shirt signed by every member of the squad, including Antonio.

Antonio has long been a popular figure at the London Stadium and received many messages of support from current and former teammates following the crash.

There was another show of support here in the ninth minute when fans stood to applaud him and Lopetegui agreed from the touchline. Bowen held up a T-shirt with Antonio’s name on it after scoring the winning goal.

“It’s been a tough few days for all of us,” Lopetegui told Sky Sports before the game. “Luckily it was a miracle. There are more important things – the person, the father, the father, the brother, the son that he is. We are glad that he survived yesterday’s operation and let’s see (how long) he will stay. We spoke to him today and are happy for him, even though he suffered a lot.”

Roshane Thomas

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The Wolves’ search for the winning formula continues

It was impossible to predict which team O’Neil would choose to save his job.

For much of last season, Wolves fans knew what to expect from an O’Neil team. For about a month now there has been a feeling that names are being pulled out of a hat.

Obviously that is not the case. But O’Neil’s desperate attempts to find a winning formula have seen all thoughts of consistent selection thrown out the window.

In the end, his formation at the London Stadium was close to replicating what worked for much of last season – a 3-4-3 system, but with the flexibility to switch to a back four at certain moments of the game.

Even then there were some square pegs in round holes – Nelson Semedo on the right side of the back three, Craig Dawson on the bench after his horror night against Everton at Goodison Park and Joao Gomes once again found himself in a strange, inside-right role for Wolves front three.

Throughout his tenure, O’Neil has shied away from playing in an orthodox midfield three, despite always having a range of central midfield talent at his disposal.

Did the selection work? Well, they managed to keep West Ham at bay for 54 minutes with the help of mediocre finishing, but there was less threat in attack than in many recent games.

In the end they conceded two goals in typically gentle fashion and only posed a sporadic threat in attack. In terms of basic form it was perhaps similar to last season, but that was where the comparison ended.

Steve Madeley

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The wolves’ vulnerability after repeated hits

O’Neil has likened his team to an untamed horse for their inability to control their emotions, and the final months of his reign (if they ultimately prove to be such) will be remembered for, among other things, their repeated failures after scoring consolidate.

Against Liverpool in September, Mohamed Salah scored the winning goal just five minutes after Rayan Ait-Nouri’s equalizer in a 2-1 defeat.

In a crazy opening game at Brentford in October, Wolves fell behind twice, equalized for a second time in the 26th minute through Jorgen Strand Larsen and conceded again in the 28th minute to Christian Norgaard.

Against Crystal Palace in November, they fought back from a 1-0 deficit to lead 2-1 through Joao Gomes in the 72nd minute, only to concede a Marc Guehi equalizer five minutes later and a 2-2 draw to achieve.

And at the London Stadium, Doherty’s equalizer leveled things up for just three minutes before Kudus restored West Ham’s lead, with VAR still having time in between to reject a penalty appeal for a foul by Emerson on Goncalo Guedes.

In the end, Wolves’ frustration boiled over, Mario Lemina fumed and ended up on the ground with Bowen. The Wolves midfielder went head-to-head with first-team coach Shaun Derry and was eventually dragged into the tunnel.

Steve Madeley

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What did Lopetegui say?

“We dedicate the victory to Michail Antonio,” Lopetegui told Sky Sports.

“We deserved the three points. It’s much more than just football. We were able to keep up well and fight until the end. In the only action in the second half there was a draw (equalizer). We had very clear chances. But the most important thing is that we won.

“We were strong with our mentality. We stayed in the game and took advantage. It’s a fantastic goal from our captain. He is a fantastic player and a fantastic professional. It hasn’t been an easy week, believe me.”

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What did O’Neil say?

O’Neil told Sky Sports: “The people above me support me but the fans want their club to be successful. I understand that it is my team and I have to take responsibility. But when I came to this club they had just collected 39 points in the Premier League. Since then we have managed to reach £200 million in player sales. We sold a lot of Premier League players – if we go back to Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Adama Traore, Diego Costa, Raul Jimenez, Max Kilman and Pedro Neto. We no longer shop at this market. We are trying to find young people.

“I’m really proud of her. But I can only ask them to give what they give and they give everything. They hate the situation we’re in. And I agree exactly with her. We will not give up and keep working.”

About the Lemina incident, he said: “Mario is calm now. He’s obviously a passionate guy. Something was said that upset him. Then it was the instinct of all the staff and players to make sure he didn’t get into trouble and that we had him available for Ipswich.

“Of course he needed some rest at that moment, but everything is fine. Personnel players, everyone understands that something like this can happen, especially in the current heat.

“Everyone at the football club is currently under a lot of stress and pressure. If I watch it again and if Mario sees it again, maybe there are things he would have done differently.

“But we know that everything Mario does comes from a desire to do good for the club.

“It’s one of those incidents that no one likes to see, but it happens. It shows that the team is still fighting and still together.”

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What’s next for West Ham?

Monday, December 16th: Bournemouth (A), Premier League, 8pm GMT, 3pm ET

What’s next for the Wolves?

Saturday December 14th: Ipswich (H), Premier League, 3pm GMT, 10am ET

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(Top photo: MB Media/Getty Images)