Premier League Team of the Week XXXVI feat. Southampton and West Ham stars

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Sadio Mané: Sadio Mané had a day to remember against Manchester City, picking up his second hat-trick in a Southampton shirt. Aside from the goals though, it was also a very complete performance as the mercurial talent worked back with his defenders to make eight tackles during the ninety minutes. His first goal of the day came courtesy of a smart finish with a lovely degree of finesse to beat Joe Hart in the first half. He was especially dangerous on the break whenever Southampton recovered possession of the ball, often following a misplaced pass by a player in sky blue, or when they dithered on the ball. Mané’s second showed a poacher’s instinct, expecting the rebound to fall to him off the crossbar and then realising the importance of allowing the ball to drop to a height that would allow him to finish the chance successfully. His hat-trick secured with three quarters of the game gone, sprinting clear on yet another break-away after Dusan Tadic had laid on another perfectly weighted pass and Mané slotted calmly underneath the body of Joe Hart.

Dimitri Payet: As always seems to be the case when he plays, Dimitri Payet ran the show for West Ham United. Slaven Bilic’s side were dominant against West Brom and the Frenchman played a big part in that, having a crucial impact in two of his team’s goals and supplying eight crosses, more than anyone else on the park. In the first 45 minutes, he created Cheikhou Kouyaté’s opener with a pin-point ball over from the right. Payet also had a huge hand in The Hammers’ third goal, driving through the heart of The Baggies’ defence with a mazy dribble before feeding Andy Carroll who was able to lay the ball on a plate for Mark Noble to pop in his second of the day.

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Mark Noble: Mark Noble put in yet another barnstorming display for The Hammers and this only went to prove how staggering it is that he does not currently seem to figure in Roy Hodgson’s plans for the summer. Noble bagged a pair of goals on Saturday afternoon, with his first coming on the stroke of half-time. This probably put pay to West Brom feeling that they could earn anything at all from the game and if not, then his second certainly did. Mark Noble led like a captain and leader should, helping to keep the relatively faint hopes of West Ham qualifying for the Champions League alive, and making three tackles and beating his man on three occasions also.

Dusan Tadic: Dusan Tadic was a pleasure to watch on Sunday afternoon, as his technique on the ball and expert passing cut Manchester City’s defence to ribbons. The skilful left-footer provided three assists before being withdrawn late in the second half. The first of these came for Shane Long when chasing hard towards the by-line, Tadic was able to pull an intelligent ball back into the six-yard box. Two of Sadio Mané’s three goals were provided by the boot of Dusan Tadic, with the first of these coming as a result of a perfectly weighted ball in front of the sprinting Sadio Mané, scything through the centre-halves of Manchester City to set up a two goal advantage for The Saints. For Tadic’s third assist and indeed Mané’s third goal, he used his weaker right foot to release the pacey forward beyond City’s defenders. This was not only an assist-filled display for Tadic though, as he knuckled down and realised his defensive responsibilities too, putting in four tackles to disrupt City’s rhythm.