Sadio Mane smashes Premier League record by scoring hat trick in just under 3 minutes

Think about what you could realistically accomplish in two minutes and 56 seconds. Conventional wisdom suggests you wouldn't be able to do very much.

Conventional wisdom didn't account for Sadio Mane.

The blistering Southampton winger smashed a Premier League record that had stood under no threat for over 20 years years when he took the pitch in Saturday's contest against Aston Villa, scoring three times in a remarkable, spellbinding sequence that lasted exactly two minutes and 56 seconds.

Mane's quickfire treble surpassed the previous record held by former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler, who found the net three times in 4 minutes and 33 seconds in a match against Arsenal in 1994.

The 23-year-old Senegalese winger, who had seven goals in 28 matches heading into Saturday's contest at St. Mary's, opened the scoring in the 13th minute, tapping the ball into an open net after his initial shot rebounded right back to him off the legs of the unfortunate Shay Given.

He doubled the Saints' lead 84 seconds later, latching onto a horrendous back-pass from Ron Vlaar before slotting the ball past Given - who you wouldn't have faulted if he had decided to throw in the towel at that point.

Alas, he soldiered on, and now has the dubious distinction of being the goalkeeper involved in the record-breaking feat, as Mane completed his hat trick with a wonderful strike into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area seconds later.

Smiles all around ... except, of course, for Aston Villa and, one would assume, Robbie Fowler.