BIRTHDAY BOY Tomas Soucek earned his slice of cake after KO’ing Wolves.
Whether it will see West Ham finally get a share of the Champions League pie they so desperately crave come May is anyone’s guess right now.
The Hammers claimed just their second win in six Premier League games to go within two points of Manchester United in fourth.
But with Arsenal and Tottenham both having games in hand below them, their longevity around the top four is as up in the air as one of Soucek’s birthday balloons.
The Czech Republic midfielder’s toe poke in the 59th minute won his side all three points.
And after turning 27, his hopes of playing in Europe’s elite competition with West Ham before he is 28 are still alive – for now.
Bruno Lage’s Wolves may also have a game to spare, but their faint hopes of the Champions League are surely over now.
Two recent losses to Arsenal and a limp display at the London Stadium surely puts a final nail in that particular coffin.
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Focus now switches to playing in any sort of European competition at all next season.
David Moyes made just the one change from the disappointing draw here against Newcastle last week – Ben Johnson replacing Ryan Fredericks at right back.
Kurt Zouma – still under investigation by the RSPCA – kept his place in the backline.
As for Wolves, after their heart-breaking injury time defeat to Arsenal on Thursday, Bruno Lage brought in five new faces, the stand-out being Raul Jimenez benched for Fabio Silva.
But pre-match was dominated by West Ham’s support of one of their own in Andriy Yarmolenko, who has been granted time off following Russia’s invasion of his homeland.
The big screens on the outside of the ground were lit yellow and blue with the message: “Sending love and prayers to Andriy Yarmolenko and the people of Ukraine."
It carried on into the warm-ups. The home side donned training tops with ‘Yarmolenko 7’ on the back. Wolves joined in also, wearing t-shirts with the phrase ‘No To War’.
And as skipper Declan Rice led out the hosts, he held up a Yarmolenko West Ham shirt. If anything, the Ukrainian winger has the undoubted support of his club and team-mates.
The heart-warming vibes soon turned to ones of frustration however as West Ham failed to take advantage of a Wolves outfit looking undercooked and toothless.
The early warning came via Aaron Cresswell, his fine delivery into the six-yard box a touch too long for the outstretched boot of Jarrod Bowen.
The visitors – much like they did at the Emirates – were sitting deep and staying solid until the chance to counter arose. The only difference is they were without an early goal to hang on to.
If anything, they were inviting the likes of Bowen and Michail Antonio to get in behind their back three, something which the pair did with glee the entire half.
Englishman Bowen is not someone to give chances to. His tally of eight goals and eight assists in the Prem this season makes him one of the country’s hottest strikers right now.
Yet both Bowen and Antonio were missing that final bit of quality to make the pressure count.
After Cresswell’s free-kick narrowly missed the target, Wolves keeper Jose Sa was called into action to stop Antonio’s fired effort in the box at his near post.
Lage’s plans to counter were consistently foiled by West Ham winning the physical battle.
Teenage striker Silva – still without a Prem goal this season – saw his attack stopped in its tracks by Zouma.
Sloppiness at the back was a factor too as Maximilian Kilman was dispossessed giving Rice the chance to thump one from 25 yards off Sa’s left-hand post.
Soon after, Bowen had the chance to unleash in the box but couldn’t sort his feet out.
Had Wolves gone into the break ahead, who knows how this tense London Stadium crowd would have reacted – and we almost found out.
A brief lapse at the back gave Hwang Hee-chan a chance to guide one into the bottom corner from the edge of the box only to clip the outside of the post.
Sighs of relief all round, something that had Moyes’ men on edge early in the second half.
But those nerves were quashed just before the hour mark. Cresswell and Pablo Fornals produced some trickery down the left to set up Antonio in the box.
For the first time in the game, Antonio showed calmness and precision, picking out an unmarked Soucek to poke home from a few yards out.
The Czech midfielder’s fourth of the season, and first since December.
Wolves had a mini-reaction – Silva’s swivelled attempt well-blocked by Zouma once more.
But the rest of the half was a case of wasted chances by West Ham to kill this game off for good with Lage’s team now open and stretched.
Bowen should have scored his ninth league goal of the campaign but for the feet of Sa, while Antonio, Fornals and Soucek all scuppered clear-cut shots with time ticking away.
Thankfully, it didn’t come back to haunt them. The Euro dream goes on, if only faint.
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