Sadio Mane netted the fastest hat trick in Premier league history on Saturday, grabbing goals in the 13th, 14th and 16th minutes as Southampton boosted its hopes of European qualification with a 6-1 victory against Aston Villa.
The Senegal international's treble was wrapped up in 2 minutes, 56 seconds — beating the record of 4:33 set by liverpool's Robbie Fowler against Arsenal in 1994, two years after the Premier league started.
Mane converted the rebound after Villa goalkeeper Shay Given saved his initial shot to give Southampton the lead after 12:22. He scored again on 13:46 before saving his best for last by curling Shane long's pass on the edge of the area past Given on 15:18.
The hat trick was part of an amazing first half for Southampton, with Mane's fellow summer signing Shane long slotting home from close range before hitting a 40-yard effort to put Saints five up inside 38 minutes.
Christian Benteke pulled one back on the stroke of halftime with an exceptional header, but that did not save Tim Sherwood's FA Cup finalists trudging off at the interval to a chorus of boos.
Villa, which would have made sure of staying up with a win, improved after the break but were unable to keep Saints at bay, with Graziano Pelle volleying home to take Saints to 60 points - their best-ever Premier league return.
Everton beats West Ham 2-1
london: Romelu lukaku struck yet again for Everton against West Ham, scoring the 2-1 winner in injury time in the English Premier league on Saturday.
lukaku has scored six times in six games for Everton against West Ham, four in four this season. The Belgium striker's remarkable record put Everton level with West Ham in 10th place in the standings.
After a droll, scoreless first half at Upton Park, Stewart Downing swapped passes with Alex Song to open the scoring for the hosts, but six minutes later, lukaku crossed to leon Osman, who, with his back to goal, controlled the ball and volleyed in the equalizer. lukaku settled the issue heading in substitute Aiden McGeady's cross.
QPR BEAT newcastle united 2-1
london: Newcastle will head into the final day of the season with its Premier league status in jeopardy after losing 2-1 to already-relegated Queens Park Rangers on Saturday for an eighth defeat in its last nine games.
French striker Emmanuel Riviere put Newcastle ahead in the 24th minute with his first league goal for the club on his 18th appearance. Matt Phillips headed in Charlie Austin's cross for a 55th-minute equalizer and leroy Fer scored from long range in the 61st for the winner.
Newcastle is two points clear of third-from-bottom Hull heading into next Sunday's home match against West Ham, which is coached by former Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce. Hull plays Manchester United at home and has a superior goal difference to Newcastle.
spurs beat hull city 2-0
london: Hull plunged closer to relegation from the Premier league by losing 2-0 to Tottenham after second-half goals by Nacer Chadli and Danny Rose.
With one game left — at home to Manchester United next Sunday — Hull is third from bottom, two points behind Newcastle and three adrift of Sunderland. Chadli rounded Hull goalkeeper Steve Harper to slot home in the 54th minute and left back Rose added a second with a powerful shot in the 61st. Tottenham stayed sixth and kept the team in contention for Europa league qualification.
Hull's loss ensured Aston Villa and leicester will be in the Premier league next season and reduced the fight to avoid relegation to three clubs.
leicester draws with sunderland
sunderland: leicester made sure of staying in the Premier league by drawing 0-0 with Sunderland on Saturday, completing a remarkable escape act after spending most of the season at the bottom of the standings. The point puts leicester four points ahead of Hull with one round left to play, after Nigel Pearson's team won six of its previous seven games to climb off bottom place.
Sunderland still needs a point to ensure another season in the top flight but has two games left to play. It will be guaranteed survival if Hull fails to beat Manchester United in the last round.
stoke city draws with burnley
burnley: Stoke reached its highest ever points tally in the Premier league by drawing 0-0 with already relegated Burnley. The stalemate takes Mark Hughes' team to 51 points, the most it has registered in the seven years it has been in the Premier league, and also ensures successive top-half finishes in the top flight.
The record could have been brought up with a win, but Mame Diouf spurned two good opportunities to break the deadlock, while Jonathan Walters also missed a good chance for the Potters. Burnley, whose home supporters were bidding farewell to Premier league football, made the early running but could not force a breakthrough, despite several Danny Ings attempts.