The Tim Spiers debrief – West Ham 0 Wolves 1

Adama Traore left it late as Nuno's boys won it in the best manner possible.

A long wait

Wolves had last won a Premier League game some 2,401 days earlier.

If you'd told their supporters on February 4, 2012, that they wouldn't see their beloved team win a top flight match for another six-and-a-half years they'd have been devastated.

It's been an inexorably long wait – but Nuno's Wolves look set to make up for lost time.

That 2012 victory also came in London, at Queens Park Rangers, but that's where the similarities between the two wins immediately end.

The Mick McCarthy era ended a week after that Loftus Road victory, when Wolves were a club heading for oblivion and successive relegations to League One.

There was no plan for Wolves' future 2,401 days ago...the opposite is true now.

Wolves' previous four seasons in the Premier League were all spent looking over their shoulder. Yes there were some great days, some unforgettable memories, but each season was a relegation dogfight.

They weren't a team to be feared, they would arrive at every ground in the league with opposition fans expecting to see them defeated.

Again, the opposite is true now.

Where they belong

Alan Shearer said on Match of the Day that Wolves proved they're 'here to stay' in the Premier League and you'd be hard-pressed to argue with that.

Only one of these two teams was enacting a coherent game-plan, only one team looked confident and assured in themselves, only one team looked like they'd been in the top flight for the past six years and only one team still believed they could win this game when the clock ticked over to 93 minutes.

West Ham spent £100m on improving a team that finished 13th last season and in Manuel Pellegrini they have a manager who's won the Premier League.

But, while chances were fairly evenly split, Wolves were the better team here. They fully earned their victory for a wholehearted and positive approach that you'd imagine will win them many fans this season.

Their mentality, their drive, their hunger, their determination and sheer will to win is deeply impressive.

It all comes from Nuno. How many managers of a newly-promoted team would have settled for a point at 80 minutes yesterday? Not Nuno.

He made a tactical switch on 87 minutes, replacing Raul Jimenez with Ruben Vinagre who stretched play down the left and allowed the bright Leo Bonatini to be in a perfect central position to receive Joao Moutinho's pass and set up that man Traore for a glorious winner.

The goal was borne out of another of Nuno's tactical successes – pressing West Ham's midfield time and again with Jonny Castro Otto, Moutinho and Ruben Neves harassing Jack Wilshere and Carlos Sanchez. The latter had his pocket picked by Neves in the build-up to the winner.

Portuguese perfection

Moutinho and Neves combined brilliantly for the goal and enjoyed another productive afternoon as their burgeoning partnership takes shape.

Plenty, this correspondent included, thought Wolves wouldn't have enough bite in midfield with the two Portuguese midfielders not exactly known for putting their foot in.

Well, there's a piece of humble piece being delivered to E&S HQ this morning.

Time and again the pair won possession and got Wolves back on the attack. They held their positioning, kept possession (both registered a pass accuracy of higher than 90 per cent) and dictated the tempo of the match.

Neves regularly found Doherty or Costa out on the right flank and on two occasions it almost led to a goal.

Talking of Doherty, he had a superb game to complete an impressive turnaround since that off-day at Leicester. He was solid against Manchester City last weekend and thrived against Aaron Cresswell here, getting in good positions time and again. Like Wolves, Doherty looks set to make the step up to the Premier League.

Finishing touch

The best example of him getting in good positions was when the Irishman was presented with the ball (by Neves, obviously) deep down the right flank, cut inside and placed a perfect opportunity on the proverbial plate for Raul Jimenez, whose miss was comically bad when he contrived to fall over his own feet.

Yes Wolves won this game, but they shouldn't have had to leave it until the 93rd minute to do so and Nuno again pointed to his team needing to be more ruthless in front of goal.

With confidence and repetition of their effective attacking forays, that should improve over time.

They will need improvements from certain players if they're to continue an upward projectory, though – Diogo Jota and Willy Boly haven't quite yet made the step up that we all expect they will do in the coming months and Jimenez will need to be more clinical.

So far it's been Wolves' stellar new signings in Rui Patricio (who made two excellent match-winning saves), Moutinho and Traore who have come to the fore. A new-look spine is forming in Nuno's team.

Elsewhere Ryan Bennett has made an outstanding start to the campaign, Helder Costa has improved week by week and Conor Coady looks comfortable at this level.

After an iffy opening two games it's starting to come together. Wolves are earning points to back up the plaudits.

Bad timing

All of which means a two-week international break comes at an inopportune moment.

Wolves would love to take the momentum from that last-gasp winner straight into another game, but instead they will get a chance to recharge those batteries after a busy few weeks (not as busy as their next opponents Burnley, who will certainly feel the benefit of the break).

Their opening four fixtures have produced five points – just about a fair return on the balance of play – and they have a healthy position in the (very) early-season table.

With an alluring run of matches against Burnley, Southampton, Crystal Palace, Watford and Brighton (plus Man United away) to come before the end of October, with a number of players yet to hit top form, with Leander Dendoncker and Ivan Cavaleiro to be added to the squad...Wolves are in good shape.

They've laid some foundations for the season ahead and with their first win and clean sheet in the can you feel they will only grow in confidence.

Welcome back to the Premier League, Wolves. It looks like you might hang around a bit longer this time.

Final word

Star man: Joao Moutinho

The boss: Outsmarted another Premier League title winner

Fans: Loud

Magic moment: There's no better feeling in football than a last minute winner

In a word: Euphoric

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