By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
West Ham came through a very eventful game to beat Bolton 3-2, thanks largely to Jarrod Bowen producing the quality when it mattered.
It certainly wasn’t a convincing Hammers performance, with nobody consistently looking a level above Bolton for much of the game. However, Bowen eventually took control, while Konstantinos Mavropanos somehow managed to score at both ends during an action-packed evening.
West Ham Player Ratings
Mads Hermansen – 6
Made an early comfortable save from Iling-Junior’s free-kick and a good reaction stop towards the end of the first half. His kicking was tested by Bolton’s press, but his quick throws launched several dangerous West Ham counter-attacks.
Kyle Walker-Peters – 3
To say he had a terrible first half would be an understatement. Bolton continually targeted his side, he was poor in the build-up to their equaliser and then conceded the penalty. Tried to begin the second half with some sort of redemption arc and did combine beautifully with Bowen before fizzing in a dangerous cross. Replaced after 56 minutes.
Walker Peters had a nightmare
Konstantinos Mavropanos – 6
Possibly the most eventful performance of the night. Made a brilliant tackle which started the move for Bowen’s opener, was unfortunate with the deflection for Bolton’s equaliser and then headed home West Ham’s second. Almost scored again from a corner but also had a few horror moments defensively.
Max Kilman – 6
Didn’t have quite the Hollywood game of Mavropanos but was reasonably assured throughout. At one stage appeared to get bored with West Ham’s lack of attacking intensity, stepped into midfield, won the ball and skipped past a couple of Bolton players. Had one scary defensive moment towards the end of the first half but recovered well.
Ollie Scarles – 6
Very much an Ollie Scarles performance. Some decent defending but found wanting at times when it came to the attacking side of his game. Picked up an unnecessary early booking following an awful pass, but redeemed himself with an excellent through ball for Austbø. Later handled the dangerous Dong well after he switched wings and produced an excellent late cross for Piroe. Certainly didn’t suffer the nightmares Walker-Peters did on the opposite flank.
Arne Engels – 7
An energetic performance and produced a beautiful free-kick delivery for Mavropanos to score West Ham’s second. Also released Kanté into the penalty area later in the game.
Divine Mukasa – 5
Unable to have his usual impact, often having to help his defenders rather than being able to carry the ball forward and hurt Bolton. Substituted after 65 minutes.
Jarrod Bowen – 8
Two goals and, by the end, he was oozing class and confidence with every touch. Didn’t necessarily spend the whole game looking a level above Bolton, but in the moments that counted he absolutely did. Produced a wonderful run and pass for Solomon before showing real opportunism to score the winner with his left foot. Worked incredibly hard defensively too. Should probably have completed his hat-trick late on but took too many touches when released by Solomon.
Edvin Austbø – 5
Demonstrated some nice touches and a good turn of pace, while being more than willing to get back and help Scarles defensively. Gave West Ham someone capable of stretching Bolton’s high defensive line but ultimately didn’t cause their defence as many problems as he’d have liked. Replaced after 56 minutes.
Mohamadou Kanté – 6
For all his obvious limitations, his physicality was extremely impressive. Frequently found himself playing beyond Pablo and made a real menace of himself, although he never looked entirely comfortable in the role. Fired one effort so high over the bar it looked like he was going for a rugby conversion, but later forced a corner with a better effort. Either Kanté or Pablo might have benefited from a quicker player alongside them; as a pairing, it wasn’t working.
Pablo – 4
After his performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Pablo was back to his worst I’m afraid. Worked hard but looked clumsy and wasn’t particularly well suited to this game, lacking the pace and technical ability to trouble Bolton’s defenders. Bowen created a decent chance for him, but Pablo strayed offside and completely missed the ball anyway.
Substitutes
Joël Veltman – 6
A wily old fox. Drew a foul from the dangerous Dong in their first duel, much to the frustration of the Bolton bench. His curling low cross also created Bowen’s winning goal.
Manor Solomon – 6
Should have done better when Bowen released him with a sumptuous pass, producing a weak shot which didn’t test the keeper. Much better later when a wonderful run and chipped pass created a good opportunity for Piroe. Also helped launch the late counter which should have resulted in Bowen’s hat-trick.
Lewis Orford – 5
Unable to make a significant impact after replacing Mukasa midway through the second half but played his part.
Joël Piroe – 5
Didn’t do a lot, and I’d like to see him become more physical with central defenders. Still managed to look considerably more threatening than Pablo and had a decent opportunity from Solomon’s chipped pass, but fired over.
Morato – Not rated
Introduced too late to warrant a rating.
Think I may have been watching a different game, Hermanson was faultless, could do nothing about either goal, Kilman was solid 7, agree it was a tough night for KWP but he tried 5, Engels was our best player in midfield 7.5, Scarles was also excellent other than the yellow card 7 and the subs Orford calmed down the midfield and gave us control and Piroe was a constant threat,I thought Pablo did an excellent job of pressing and causing chaos in there defence had he been playing with Piroe from the start might have been a different game with more goals from us. Overall a fair score for the game would have been us winning 5-2 Bolton were excellent for 45 mins then ran out of gas.
A couple of unfortunate lapses from KWP, but an away win at Bolton on a Tues night. Exactly the kind of fixture some of our departed stars wouldn’t have fancied.
We found a way to win the game that’s all that matters. The Nuno sack brigade can stand down.
Mainly agree with you but, I thought Scarles demonstrated a lack of confidence -5. I didn’t notice Mukasa – 4. Walker Peters 4 – a bad night. Felipe 6 – I am not his greatest fan, but he tried & put himself about & there were worse players on the pitch than him. Overall; a very unconvincing performance. In comparison , Bolton played well & were quite threatening at times. We might, temporarily, be top of the league now, but I am not particularly enamoured by our performances in any of our games so far – even the ones which we won !
Three hard earned points. In the first half Bolton -in turbo mode- seemed simpler and more efficient. But in the second half West Ham started to control more of the game and after very hard wotk, finally prevailed. During several parts of the game WH didn‘t seem to “click“, but in the end, this third win in a row provided fans with a great relief.