Finally! Wolves claims its first Premier League win of the season at the 20th attempt

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Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee-Chan, right, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United in Wolverhampton, England, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Nigel French/PA via AP)

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Jhon Arias celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United in Wolverhampton, England, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Nigel French/PA via AP) — Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee-Chan, right, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United in Wolverhampton, England, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Nigel French/PA via AP)

Audio By Carbonatix

9:09 AM on Saturday, January 3

The Associated Press

WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — It has taken 20 games but Wolverhampton Wanderers finally have their first win in the Premier League.

A 3-0 victory over West Ham at Molineux on Saturday brought some respite for Wolves after its historically bad start to a top-flight season.

No team has taken this long to record its first win of a Premier League campaign since the competition's inception in 1992.

The record for the longest winless start to a top-division campaign is held by Bolton Wanderers, who won for the first time in the 1902-03 season on their 22nd attempt.

Wolves, which has won twice in the English League Cup this season — including against West Ham — last tasted success in the Premier League on April 26. That was a month before the end of last season.

Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-chan and Mateus Mané scored first-half goals for Wolves, which moved onto six points — still 12 from safety with 18 games remaining — but was only six points behind next-to-last Burnley, which lost at Brighton 2-0 on Saturday.

West Ham stayed in third-to-last place, four points from safety.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer