There was no need for David Moyes to hide behind the sofa. Forced to self-isolate after testing positive for Covid‑19 last week, West Ham’s manager settled down and watched his players lift their troubled club’s mood, crushing Wolves with a performance built on tactical nous and no little skill.
It was typical West Ham to stir just when storm clouds were gathering. Ever perverse, they earned their first points of the season with their manager and two players, Issa Diop and Josh Cullen, in quarantine. Against all expectations it was Wolves who were made to look meek and shambolic, folding as West Ham triumphed at the end of a week in which their co-owner, David Sullivan, managed to steal the limelight by going on to a radio programme to warn that there might not be any signings before the transfer window shuts next Monday.