Soccer-Saints' Mane grabs fastest top-flight hat-trick

(Adds quotes, details) By Ken Ferris May 16 (Reuters) - Southampton's Senegal forward Sadio Mane scored the fastest English top-flight hat-trick in an extraordinary 6-1 win over relegation-threatened Aston Villa at St Mary's on Saturday. His treble was timed at two minutes and 56 seconds breaking Scotland forward Graham Leggat's record of three minutes for Fulham in a club record 10-1 win over Ipswich Town in 1963. It also broke a 20-year-old Premier League record for the fastest treble scored by Robbie Fowler in four minutes and 33 seconds for Liverpool against Arsenal on Aug. 28 1994. "Really? It is the fastest Premier League hat-trick?" said an amazed Mane. "The most important thing today is the victory." Saints manager Ronald Koeman added: "It was incredible from Sadio Mane. A player like him, to get that kind of space, he will punish you. The whole team did a good job and I'm proud." Mane, who shook hands with some of the delighted Southampton fans at the end of the game before walking around the pitch with the match ball, struck in the 13th, 14th and 16th minutes. It was the earliest a player has scored three goals in a Premier League game, beating the 22 minutes registered by Dwight Yorke for Blackburn Rovers in 2003. Mane is the third Southampton player to score a Premier League hat-trick after James Beattie and Matt Le Tissier. Southampton striker Shane Long grabbed a double in the 26th and 38th minutes to put Southampton 5-0 ahead before Villa got a consolation just before the break but Saints' Italian striker Graziano Pelle added a sixth goal in the 81st minute. By the time Belgium striker Christian Benteke had scored for Villa, who remain just four points above the drop zone, some of the dejected away fans had already left the ground. "It was unrecognisable from the team we had but credit to Southampton for punishing us for our mistakes, and there were a few," said Villa manager Tim Sherwood. "The defenders don't need to be told, the whole team are in it. I take responsibility for that. That is one bad 45 minutes since I have been at the club." Villa's final league game is at home to already-relegated Burnley before they face Arsenal in the FA Cup final at Wembley. "We have to win a game and then a Cup final, there's no point in me stripping paint off them," added Sherwood. "If we beat Burnley next week, it's in our own hands and we'll be safe." (Writing by Ken Ferris; Editing by Justin Palmer)