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Despite a Sadio Mane hat-trick, Thierry Henry and many others thought Shane Long was man of the match

Published 20:18 1 May 2016 BST

Darragh Murphy
Despite a Sadio Mane hat-trick, Thierry Henry and many others thought Shane Long was man of the match

Homesport

When you're up against a teammate who's just scored a hat-trick against one of the richest clubs in world football, it will always be difficult to prise the man of the match award away from him.

But while Sadio Mane was smashing goals beyond Joe Hart during Southampton's 4-2 victory over Manchester City, Shane Long spent his 90 minutes sprinting around the pitch, pressuring defenders and making darting runs that freed up space for his Senegalese teammate. GettyImages-526855558 Long got the game's opening goal and set the tone for Saints' performance on Sunday afternoon. Commentator Niall Quinn gave the Republic of Ireland striker an honourable mention when awarding Sky Sports' man of the match award to Mane but many, Thierry Henry included, felt that Long had the more impressive performance. https://twitter.com/SkyFootball/status/726828493988732928 https://twitter.com/Clarky2705/status/726824649439477760 https://twitter.com/lunnon92/status/726819703054843905 https://twitter.com/Bloggsy86/status/726821463538421760 https://twitter.com/mcfcsoldier/status/726821695328231427 https://twitter.com/FutbolAndrew/status/726827658814824450 https://twitter.com/CraigAndrew3/status/726828532727463936 https://twitter.com/LiamFaid_sfc/status/726821863964430336 https://twitter.com/dansaints/status/726824878406549505 https://twitter.com/jase1962/status/726839891993202688 https://twitter.com/Anth9777/status/726823756065345537 Snapchat
Despite a Sadio Mane hat-trick, Thierry Henry and many others thought Shane Long was man of the match