Nikica Jelavic scored his first goal for West Ham to steer them past a stubborn Wolves side and into the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Jelavic, the former Everton and Hull striker, had barely had a sniff of goal until the 85th minute of a game low on excitement and high on errors. But when substitute Andy Carroll flicked on a long ball into the Wolves penalty area, Jelavic showed his predatory instincts to lash a fierce volley past goalkeeper Carl Ikeme from 15 yards.
It was a rare moment of quality in a game that looked to be heading for a replay. Both managers made changes to their starting line-ups, and Kenny Jackett's most notable absentee was former Arsenal striker Benik Afobe, who is expected to be joining Bournemouth for around £10m in the next few days.
Slaven Bilic rested Carroll and three other regulars, meaning a rare start for Jelavic. But the Croation looked well off the pace for most of the game, as did some of his team-mates. More than 15 minutes elapsed before there was a meaningful effort on target, when West Ham midfielder Mauro Zarate sent a tame shot into the hands of Ikeme. Pedro Obiang made the goalkeeper work harder to push away a deflected shot, and full-back Carl Jenkinson had a fierce drive tipped over on the stroke of half-time.
The pattern continued into the second half until Bilic sent on Carroll and Dmitri Payet for the final half-hour, and the French midfielder went close with a free-kick that landed on the roof of the net.
Wolves defended resolutely for most of the game, but did not offer much in attack until after Jelavic had made the all-important breakthrough. But it was too little, too late for the Championship side, and when substitute Adam Le Fondre finally had a sight of goal in stoppage time, he shot wide.
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