West Ham climbed to the top of the Championship after Jarrod Bowen scored twice in a 3-2 victory over Bolton Wanderers, with a late mistake from debutant goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu proving decisive.
Bowen opened the scoring after 13 minutes, but Bolton responded strongly and turned the match around through Ethan Erhahon and a Ruben Rodrigues penalty. Konstantinos Mavropanos restored parity before half-time, setting up a tense second period in which West Ham eventually found the winner.
Bolton handed Bazunu his first start following his loan move from Southampton, replacing Jack Bonham as one of seven changes made after the 4-0 defeat at Millwall. The Republic of Ireland international produced several important saves but was ultimately punished in the closing stages.
West Ham captain Bowen struck first after Kyle Walker-Peters’ cut-back created confusion inside the Bolton box. Josh Sheehan’s attempted intervention fell kindly to the forward, who drove the ball into the net.
The hosts responded when Mavropanos failed to fully clear the danger, allowing Erhahon to fire in his first goal for Bolton with the aid of a deflection off the Greek defender.
Bolton then moved ahead in the 27th minute. Walker-Peters brought down debutant Kyliane Dong inside the penalty area, and Rodrigues converted from the spot for his first goal of the campaign.
West Ham needed only four minutes to equalise. Arne Engels delivered a free-kick towards the far post, where Mavropanos rose to head beyond Bazunu.
The defender almost scored again before the interval, but Bazunu reacted sharply to keep out another header and preserve the 2-2 scoreline.
West Ham increased the pressure after the break, with Manor Solomon, Joel Piroe and Mohamadou Kante all threatening as the visitors searched for a decisive third goal.
The breakthrough arrived in the 77th minute. Substitute Joel Veltman delivered from the right and Bowen met the ball with a relatively tame effort, but Bazunu allowed the shot to slip beneath his hand and into the net.
It was Bowen’s fifth goal of the season and secured West Ham’s third consecutive victory, as well as their first league win over Bolton since 2007.
Bolton suffered a fourth successive Championship defeat, although their performance represented a significant improvement on their heavy loss at Millwall and offered manager Steven Schumacher more encouragement despite the result.