Sadio Mane definitely struck while the iron was hot. It took him 13 minutes to score his first goal of the day but it would only take another 2:53 to get goals two and three to break Robbie Fowler’s record for the quickest hat trick in EPL history. He also broke the record for having the earliest hat trick in EPL history, achieving it in 16 minutes compared to the old record of 22 minutes by Dwight Yorke (thanks @optajoe).
Aston Villa really looked like they were keeping up with Southampton in the first ten minutes. Then after Mane’s scoring frenzy, the shoulders slumped and the Villa players all looked defeated after just 16 minutes. When Shane Long scored to make it 4-0 in the 26th minute, some Villa fans were already leaving the game. Not good for a team who is still fighting to stay out of relegation and has an FA Cup Final against Arsenal in a couple weeks.
Here are Mane’s goals. He really took advantage of a comedy of errors from Villa in the first two goals. Great awareness from Mane to get those first two goals. The third was just finishing greatness.
As a bonus, here’s Shane Long’s incredible strike to make it 5-0 Southampton. Just a thing of beauty.
