West Ham v Wolves player ratings: Rice 8, Soucek 7; Trincao 5, Marcal 6

Hammers improve top four chances after battling win on Sunday

WEST HAM RATINGS: Lukasz Fabianski – 7: Never a worry for David Moyes, the Polish goalkeeper was largely untroubled with Wolves struggling to find the target. Reuters

Ben Johnson – 7: The 22-year-old started his first game since New Year’s Day with Vladimir Coufal sidelined. He was put to work early, correcting an error by Dawson by out-pacing Silva. Constantly wanted to go forward on the wings and calling for the ball. Getty

Craig Dawson – 6: The centre-back made quite a mess of clearing a Neves long ball to Silva and nearly put Silva free on goal, before Johnson was able to clear. He was caught out again 30 minutes in by a long-ball to the forward, which he misjudged. Getty

Kurt Zouma – 7: The controversial defender may have been booed throughout but he proved to be unaffected with several crucial blocks, including to stop Silva netting an equaliser. Reuters

Aaron Cresswell – 7: Sent in a dangerous ball into the box in the opening stages, which Bowen was nearly able to convert, before whipping in a promising free-kick that went narrowly wide of Sa’s post. Getty

Tomas Soucek – 7: The Czech celebrated his 27th birthday with a goal in the second half after Antonio moved the ball into the midfielder's path. He toe poked it past Sa. AFP

Declan Rice – 8: The Hammers captain put himself in front of Hwang’s shot early on and nearly put his side in front before half-time when he rattled the woodwork, having beaten Sa from 25-yards. Worked tirelessly in his defensive duties. Reuters

Jarrod Bowen – 6: The in-form winger had an excellent chance to put his side in the lead within five minutes. He didn’t take it, and was well nullified after that.

Manuel Lanzini – 6: The Argentine saw his first-half curling shot from the edge of the box easily collected by Sa, before being unable to convert at the far post at full stretch just before the break. Getty

Pablo Fornals – 7: Hardworking throughout, the Spaniard proved to be pivotal in creating much of West Ham’s moves, constantly trying to make something happen and put on the pressure, including playing Bowen through in the 68th minute. AFP

Michail Antonio – 7: Continued his goalless streak but did force Sa into a save at the half-way point when he collected the ball and fired on the turn at Sa’s near post. He also added an assist when he slid the ball for Soucek to poke home. Booked. Getty.

SUBS: Nikola Vlasic (Antonio 90+1’) – N/A: A late change for the Hammers. Issa Diop (for Fornals 90+2’) – N/A: The centre-back came on and immediately had an impact in clearing the ball. AFP

WOLVES RATINGS: Jose Sa – 6. The Wolves goalkeeper was fortunate to be saved by the woodwork when Rice’s powerful first-half strike beat him, but the Portuguese but did well getting low to deny Bowen when the winger was sent through on goal by Fornals. Reuters

Maximilian Kilman – 5: The former non-league footballer has been eyed for a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad but he was beaten by Fornals in the build- up to Rice’s first-half strike and looked uncharacteristically rushed, losing possession. Getty

Conor Coady – 6: Beaten on the counter-attack by Antonio, Coady and his backline struggled for large parts, though he was in the right position to stop Bowen in the closing stages. Reuters

Romain Saiss – 6: The Moroccan failed to track Soucek’s run into the box for West Ham’s goal, leaving him in space to poke home. However, he made a vital interception to stop the Hammers extending their lead later on. Getty

Ki-Jana Hoever – 5: The 20-year-old made just his third start of the season as he came in to replace the injured Nelson Semedo, but he looked overworked on the wing and, like Kilman, lost possession often.

Ruben Neves – 6: The 24-year-old hit a rare Wolves effort on target, but Fabianski got low to claim. Despite making 100 passes, he was largely on the backfoot in the midfield. Getty

Leander Dendoncker – 5: In a midfield overrun by Hammers, Dendoncker struggled to break up play and move things forward. Getty

Marcal – 6: Unable to make much happen on his first start in four games, the 33-year-old almost set up the equaliser in the build up of Silva’s strike. Reuters

Francisco Trincao – 5: After a quiet first half, the Portuguese whipped in a ball which narrowly went over the bar from just outside the box. Getty

Hee-chan Hwang – 6: The South Korean came close to scoring his second goal in two games when he saw a first-time strike fly just wide of Fabianski’s post in Wolves’ rare moment on the front-foot.

Fabio Silva – 7: Returned to the starting line-up in his second start of the season. Caused Dawson trouble and he had several good opportunities in the second half. Reuters

SUBS: Daniel Podence (Trincao 60’) – 6: The right winger was dropped following the defeat at Arsenal and whilst he seemingly helped Wolves grow into the game, he couldn’t do enough to find the equaliser. AFP

Pedro Neto (Marcal 76’) – 6: Still in the early stages of his return, but he sprang into action almost immediately, trying to link with Silva. Raul Jimenez (Hwang 81’) – N/A. PA

West Ham revived their top four hopes after Tomas Soucek's second-half goal sealed a 1-0 victory over the Wolves on Sunday.

David Moyes' side, who drew their previous two matches, climbed into fifth place with 45 points from 27 games, above Arsenal on goal difference and two behind fourth-placed Manchester United thanks to Soucek's 59th-minute goal.

Wolves, who conceded twice late on to lose 2-1 to Arsenal on Thursday, had plenty of possession but were unable to seriously test home keeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Moyes had said before the game that he wanted to see more goals from Michail Antonio and Soucek.

Striker Antonio has not found the net since New Year's Day while Soucek, who scored 10 goals from midfield last season, had been stuck on three this term.

The two combined for the only goal of the match just before the hour mark, with Czech international Soucek prodding Antonio's cross past Jose Sa.

The Hammers have not finished in the top four of the English top flight since the 1985/86 season.

Player ratings for the match can be seen in the picture gallery above. To view the next image, click on the arrows or swipe if on a mobile device.