Marseille’s Dimitri Payet has a penchant for scoring highlight-reel goals. The 35-year-old midfielder scored one of his best yet during Thursday’s Europa Conference league quarterfinal first leg against Greek side PAOK.
With Marseille up 1-0 thanks to an earlier goal from Gerson, Payet – who stood about 30 yards away from goal – volleyed a one-hopper into the upper-right corner to beat the leaping PAOK keeper Alexandros Paschalakis. Cengiz Ünder initiated the play by delivering Payet a corner kick with laser precision in which the France international launched an absolute missile into the upper 90 for an incredible hit.
Payet’s insane goal happened just before halftime, giving Marseille a 2-0 lead it would eventually need because PAOK’s Omar El Kaddouri answered with a score of his own in the 48th minute. Marseille held on for a 2-1 victory.
Despite his history of flashy goals, Payet has yet to finish as a top-three vote getter for the FIFA Puskás Award since its inception in 2009. Should the 35-year-old win this year for Thursday’s goal, France would be tied with Brazil for the most Puskás Awards won by a single country with two. Olivier Giroud became the first French player to win the award in 2017.
You can catch the second leg of the Europa Conference League action on Paramount+, the streaming mecca for soccer fans. Paramount+ offers live matches from Europa League along with the UEFA Champions League, Concacaf, Serie A, National Women’s Soccer League, AFC Champions League and much more.
