West Ham’s Dimitri Payet earns big money because his free kicks are like a penalty, says Accrington Stanley’s John Coleman

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Vaishali Bhardwaj21 September 2016

Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman has joked that the reason why Dimitri Payet deserves to earn so much at West Ham is because of his ability to score match-winning goals - as he did in the EFL Cup third round on Wednesday night.

The Frenchman was brought on as a half-time substitute in West Ham's game against Accrington at the London Stadium with the score still goalless.

Payet had an instant impact, creating several chances for his teammates before he scored a superb 96th-minute winner from a free kick to send the Hammers - who had gone down to 10 men after Arthur Masuaku was forced off with injury - into the fourth round in dramatic fashion.

Coleman spoke about Payet's ability to turn a match on its head after the 1-0 loss for his Accrington side, and admitted it is the reason why he is so important to West Ham.

"People will throw bouquets at us for our spirit today but we don't want to be seen as plucky," Coleman said.

"We came here to win and we matched them for most of the game. Unfortunately we've gone to sleep in the 96th minute and you give a player of Payet's quality a free-kick on the edge of the box it's tantamount to a penalty.

"We talked about putting a man on the line but that makes it difficult for the goalkeeper. You've got to applaud the quality.

"But he earns more in a month than our whole squad earns in a season. Because he can do that. And we can't."

West Ham will now face London rivals Chelsea in the fourth round of the EFL Cup after the Blues came from two goals down to beat Leicester City 4-2 at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday.

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