No Payet, no problem – Hammers smash Palace without star man
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West Ham shrugged off their Dimitri Payet issues to produce a resounding performance and beat Crystal Palace 3-0.
After revealing on Thursday that Payet no longer wanted to play for the club, boss Slaven Bilic left out his star winger.
But with the Frenchman looking for a way out of east London, in Michail Antonio West Ham have found a new hero.
The 26-year-old supplied all three goals as Sam Allardyce’s winless start as Palace boss continued.
And the highlight of the game was a superb scissor kick from Andy Carroll.
The win is West Ham’s fourth in their last six games, and after flirting with relegation earlier in the season, are now nine points clear of the drop.
And supporters will have been delighted to see how the club responded following this week’s problems.
The club have stated more than once that they will not sell Payet, but the bookies have made Marseille odds-on to sign him earlier this week.
So it remains to be seen how the club’s owners respond if the right bid comes in over the coming days and weeks.
Next up for Bilic’s men is a trip to Middlesbrough in a weeks’ time.
And if they can reproduce today’s form in the north-east, they’ll be well-worth the victory at 21/10.
