JUST IN: 3-0! WOLVES HUMILIATE WEST HAM TO SECURE THEIR FIRST VICTORY OF 2026
Wolves secure their first Premier League win of 2026, beating West Ham 3-0. Nuno’s side remains 18th and four points from safety.
When you're fighting for survival, you have to win against a team expected to be one of the worst in Premier League history.
West Ham's poor showing against last-place Wolves raised real doubts about their ability to avoid relegation and even their desire to fight.
A shocking first-half performance let Rob Edwards' team take a 3-0 lead, making the Hammers look like the worst team in the league. Nuno Espirito Santo's team showed no fight, no creativity—basically, no hope. It was as bad as it gets.
Maybe the hardest thing for the 3,000 traveling fans to accept was that the loss wasn't a surprise. They watched in disbelief as Wolves tackled hard and tore apart a weak defense in the first half.
This wasn't a lucky win. Wolves were the better team, winning their first Premier League game since last April—and their first at home after trying 20 times this season.
Goals from Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-chan, and Mateus Mane were well-deserved.
Wolves won their first game of the season, beating a bad West Ham team 3-0 at home.
The Hammers looked like the worst team and are facing possible relegation.
Now, Nuno—with West Ham not winning in nine games and quickly getting worse—is facing the very real chance of relegation just days into 2026.
The new year didn't bring new hope for Nuno, the former Wolves coach whom the home fans still respect. They chanted 'Nuno is a Wolves fan' from the stands.
Wolves have been a mess for most of the season, with only three points before West Ham came to town. Maybe they finally realized they can't be the worst team in Premier League history, a title held by Derby County and their 11 points in 2007-08.
If Wolves are going to be relegated—and it would take a miracle to stay up—at least they'll fight.
Before the game, you could feel real ambition at the stadium. The fans showed they wanted more than what they've seen this season. This was payback.
That energy from the fans—that feeling that West Ham was beatable—carried over to Edwards' players.
Before the game, Edwards said West Ham was low on confidence and told his players to take advantage. They listened, with Arias scoring in the fourth minute.
Hwang Hee-Chan had already broken through West Ham's slow defense before trying to pass when he should have shot. But he soon showed his skill, breaking down the left and crossing low into the six-yard box.
Hwang Hee-chan scored a penalty in a great first half for the home team.
The Hammers are still four points away from safety with 20 games played this season.
Arias ran in and scored past West Ham's defenders for his first goal for the club. The fans went wild, and Edwards celebrated with his coaches.
Wolves deserved it for their early energy, and it was a terrible start for West Ham. If the Hammers couldn't beat a team seen as hopeless, how could they start moving towards safety? Except for a few moments from Crysencio Summerville, Nuno's team didn't offer much.
Around the half-hour mark, things got worse for West Ham. Former Wolves defender Max Kilman missed an easy clearance, and Mateus Mané was fouled in the box by Soungoutou Magassa.
After a VAR check, Hwang scored the penalty, and the home fans celebrated.
Wolves almost scored again in the 37th minute, but Alphonse Areola made a great save to stop Tolu Arokodare's header. Wolves were in control, much to the anger of the West Ham fans.
The third goal came when Mane had time and space to shoot low past Areola from 18 yards.
Nuno took off Freddie Potts and Magassa at halftime, which helped stop things from getting worse. Still, they couldn't have played much worse than they did in the first 45 minutes.
Wolves kept threatening, and half-chances came but didn't amount to anything. It didn't matter. Many West Ham fans left early, showing how bad things were.
The Wolves fans celebrated the win, even joking about winning the league. It was that kind of day.
No wonder Nuno quickly left the field without shaking Edwards' hand.
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
_1777914166.webp)
Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
Must Read
