Dimitri Payet’s top five goals for West Ham United
By Louis Pye
4) Payet v Blackburn
After helping knock Liverpool out of the FA Cup in the previous round, Payet decided to put on a show at Ewood Park as West Ham ran out 5-1 victors.
Having scored a trademark freekick in the first half to set the pulses racing, the star man decided to outdo himself as the tie drew to a concrete conclusion.
Being 4-1 up and in the hat for the next round wasn’t enough for Payet as he decided to further steal the show. Having picked the ball up on the halfway line, he danced his way through the Rovers defence as they helplessly tried to tackle him, only for him to seal the deal with a cool finish from the edge of the penalty box.
3) Payet v Man Utd
It was in the very next round where Payet hit one of the sweetest freekicks that you’ll ever see.
At Old Trafford, with the tie at 0-0, the French wizard won a free kick 30 yards out from David De Gea’s goal. Everybody knew where Payet was going to strike the ball, including the Spanish goalkeeper, but that couldn’t stop it from striking the post and rippling the back of the net, sending 9,000 Hammers in the away end into euphoria.
Sadly, West Ham was denied a trip to Wembley by poor officiating that resulted in a Man Utd equalizer before the Red Devils won the replay at the Boleyn, leaving Payet’s strike with a question of “what if?”.