Arsenal’s Twitter timed their last laugh over Dimitri Payet debate to cruel perfection

Have mercy

Ben Kiely

Arsenal’s Twitter timed their last laugh over Dimitri Payet debate to cruel perfection

It seems like an age ago when people were debating who was the better footballer – Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil or Dimitri Payet of West Ham.

Earlier this year when West Ham fans were full of joy, hope and all those wonderful things they believed they had one of the best players in the world in the Frenchman. This claim was further supported by his sensational performance at Euro 2016 which saw him claim a spot in the team of the tournament.

For some reason, Payet’s success on the pitch started getting compared to that of Ozil and so the healthy inter-club b*nter began with the two London teams scoring jabs on each other using their star players as weapons.

West Ham would always argue that their guy was better, Arsenal would constantly back the German and so the cycle went on and on.

So it's official, @dimpayet17 is better than @MesutOzil1088 😜 #LFA16 pic.twitter.com/kPu2qLN87E

— West Ham United (@WestHam) March 3, 2016

As the old adage goes, a Twitter account never forgives and it never forgets. Each time Payet would pick up an accolade at an awards ceremony that failed to honour Ozil and West Ham would rub it in their face, they took note. They bode their time, awaiting the perfect time to respond.

A few months later that moment came when they met in the Premier League. Both sides had vastly different fortunes in the league since the whole Payet/Ozil debate first started up with West Ham floundering near the relegation zone while the Gunners are very much still in the title race heading towards Christmas.

The gulf in class was palpable on Saturday as Arsenal thrashed West Ham 5-1 with Alexis Sanchez scoring a hat-trick, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain bagging a screamer and, that’s right, you guessed it, Ozil grabbing the other. Although Payet played a part in his side’s only goal of the game, with his free-kick coming off the bar to allow Andy Carroll to head the ball into the net, there is no doubt over who had the better game.

After the game, whoever runs Arsenal’s Twitter account must have been rubbing their hands together as they finally got the chance to respond to one of those pesky Payet tweets from back in August. The club had tweeted a picture of Slaven Bilic and Arsene Wenger four months ago along with a humorous caption that suggested Dimitri Payet was the better player.