CHE ADAMS CLIMBED off the bench to score a late winner for Southampton on their Sky Bet Championship return and silence taunts of the Sheffield Wednesday fans.
Adams entered the pitch to a chorus of boos due to his association with Sheffield United but eight minutes later he was celebrating scoring the 87th-minute goal that earned the Saints a 2-1 victory at Hillsborough.
It had looked like the Saints, back in the second tier for the first time in over a decade following last season’s Premier League relegation, would endure a frustrating evening as for large parts they failed to turn possession into goal threat.
They had gone ahead early on through Adam Armstrong’s goal – deflecting in Nathan Tella’s shot – and were in total control at half-time, setting a new Championship record for the most number of passes in 45 minutes as they completed 477.
But they were pegged back after the break when Lee Gregory scored for the newly-promoted hosts from a set-piece and the visitors struggled to find a cutting edge.
But Adams’ late introduction changed the course of the game, sweeping home from close range to give Russell Martin a win in his first game in charge as the Saints, whose squad may yet be weakened before the end of the month, laid down an early marker.
Wednesday opened this Football League campaign just 67 days after bringing the curtain down on last season with their League One play-off final at Wembley, but it has been a turbulent time since.
Manager Darren Moore surprisingly left while chairman Dejphon Chansiri used Xisco Munoz’s unveiling press conference to publicly berate former midfielder Carlton Palmer amid fan unrest at spiralling ticket prices.
And things did not start well on the pitch as Southampton took early control, going ahead in just the eighth minute.
To the naked eye, it looked like Tella had scored the first goal of the campaign in style as he cut inside on his left foot and sent a curling effort into the far corner.
But replays showed his shot glanced Armstrong on the way through and the striker was credited with the goal.
It was total Saints domination as James Ward-Prowse, one of those linked with a move away this month, forced Cameron Dawson into a smart low save while Carlos Alcaraz was just off target with a shot from the edge of the area.
Having been robbed of the goal, Tella tried his best to remedy it and went close with a similar effort that was deflected just over the crossbar.
Callum Patterson was then forced to come to Wednesday’s rescue from the resulting corner as he cleared Jack Stephens’ effort off the line.
It did not take much for the hosts to improve after the break and they levelled nine minutes after the restart as Gregory fired home from Akin Famewo’s header back across goal from Barry Bannan’s corner.
The Saints continued to enjoy almost exclusive ownership of the ball but were restricted to long distance efforts, with Stuart Armstrong twice threatening the goal.
Just as it looked like they might have to settle for a point, Adams had the last laugh by tucking home Ward-Prowse’s centre and the Saints saw out nine minutes of stoppage time to post victory.
