Payet evokes memories of Maradona with West Ham solo goal
LONDON — Thirty years after Diego Maradona’s goal of the century, West Ham winger Dimitri Payet wound back the clock with a brilliantly executed solo goal on Saturday evoking memories of the Argentina great.
Unlike Maradona’s 1986 World Cup strike , after charging through brittle English resistance, Payet’s mazy run through Middlesbrough’s defence came on a far less significant occasion. But the English Premier League point it secured might just have saved Slaven Bilic’s job, with the 1-1 draw preventing West Ham from crashing to a fifth successive loss.
Payet lit up a drab game about an hour in at the Olympic Stadium, with home fans restless after Cristhian Stuani’s header six minutes earlier. The France international dropped a shoulder to turn past Antonio Barragan on the left touchline, jinked around Marten de Roon, and skipped past Calum Chambers and Ben Gibson. After cutting through the defence with ease, Payet provided the perfect finish to score his first goal of the league.
One that evoked memories for Payet’s manager of Argentina’s current star rather than Maradona.