Jarrod Bowen dedicated his winning goal to Michail Antonio as West Ham beat Wolves 2-1.
The England winger held Antonio’s number nine shirt aloft in support of the Hammers striker, who is recovering in hospital after a horror car crash.
It was a victory which may have saved West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui’s job, for now at least, while the end could be nigh for Wolves’ under-pressure manager Gary O’Neil after a third straight defeat.
However, any concerns about poor form, or the job prospects of either boss, paled into insignificance following the news Antonio had been in a serious road accident on Saturday afternoon.
Thankfully, West Ham were able to confirm he was in a stable condition, conscious and communicating, on Saturday evening.
The 34-year-old has undergone surgery on a broken leg and faces a long road to recovery from his injuries.
So West Ham players showed their support for their stricken team-mate, wearing ‘Antonio 9’ shirts while warming up and walking out.
The shirts will be signed by the players, including Antonio, and auctioned off with the proceeds going to the NHS and Air Ambulances UK.
The focus was still on Antonio in the ninth minute, with a minute’s applause for the club’s record Premier League goalscorer.
But in a desperately poor first half it took until the 20th minute for anyone to have a shot, with Wolves’ Joao Gomes firing straight at Lukasz Fabianski, who also saved from Matheus Cunha at his near post.
Gomes should have put the visitors ahead when he met Matt Doherty’s cross at the far post but he guided his effort wide from three yards out.
For West Ham, Mohammed Kudus played in Bowen, whose angled drive was kept out by the boot of Wolves keeper Sam Johnstone.
Konstantinos Mavropanos then skied a shot from a corner as the half trundled to a close.
However, Tomas Soucek made the breakthrough nine minutes into the second half, having been left completely unmarked to loop in a header at the far post from Bowen’s corner.
The Czech midfielder held up nine fingers to a television camera to show his support for Antonio.
Kudus had the ball in the net five minutes later after tapping home Bowen’s low cross, but a VAR check showed he was offside.
O’Neil was apoplectic on the touchline after Emerson Palmieri barged over Goncalo Guedes and no penalty was given.
Moments later his mood improved when Rayan Ait-Nouri curled in a cross from the right and Doherty guided it home.
But O’Neil’s fate might have been sealed in the 72nd minute when Bowen cut inside Guedes and threaded a superb finish past Johnstone before lifting Antonio’s shirt to the crowd behind the goal.
The disappointment proved too much for Wolves skipper Mario Lemina, who had to be escorted from the pitch at the final whistle after pushing and shoving players and staff from both West Ham and his own team.
PA
