Dimitri Payet’s top five goals for West Ham United
By Louis Pye
Some people hold a grudge. Others are able to leave the past behind them and let things go. Either stance when it comes to Dimitri Payet is reasonable, but one thing every West Ham fan will agree on is that the Frenchman was a wizard in claret and blue.
It was his 33rd birthday yesterday, an age where if his Hammers contract was adhered to, would still see him at the club today. Everybody knows how the short but sweet love affair ended with Payet, rightly or wrongly, as he perhaps handled things in a dishonourable fashion to break many an East End heart.
That chapter of the story can be discussed time and time again and West Ham fans may never reach equilibrium, so I feel it is better to focus on the happier times that the maverick brought to East London.
Here are Payet’s top five goals that he wowed the footballing world with during his one and a half years at West Ham:
5) Payet v Newcastle
Whilst he had already displayed some dazzling performances, this was the night where Payet really set his mark on the Premier League.
After previously stunning Anfield with a 3-0 victory, West Ham was still awaiting their first home win of the season as Newcastle visited London. Up stepped Payet.
The Frenchman scored a brace in this Monday night clash against the Magpies, but it was his opening goal that truly got the Boleyn Ground rocking. As Mark Noble laid off the ball just outside the penalty area, Payet opened his body up and swept the ball around the incoming defender before the ball flew into the top right-hand corner. Deliciously executed and a strike that truly marked his arrival.