Even by the standards of this fairytale week, Rickie Lambert could barely have imagined a more dramatic ending as his last-gasp penalty earned Southampton an opening-day victory at West Brom.
A remarkable finale to an unremarkable match meant the striker had to wait until the 90th minute for his chance, yet he grasped it with both hands, drilling a penalty low to the left of Ben Foster.
It was a fitting finale to a remarkable seven days for the Southampton forward, who in midweek scored the winner against Scotland with his first touch in an England shirt, following on from the birth of his third child.
It was no more than Mauricio Pochettino's team deserved for their efforts against a Baggies team who looked a shadow of the one who claimed eighth place in the Premier League last term.
Nicolas Anelka, meanwhile, was largely inconspicuous on his debut for Steve Clarke's side, which ended prematurely when he was substituted late on.
Of the new faces on show it was instead Victor Wanyama who caught the eye. Composed and commanding in the middle of the park, the £12.5 million signing from Celtic, immediately looked at ease on his Barclays Premier League bow and Southampton, on this evidence, should be setting their sights higher than the 14th place achieved last season.
They had the ball in the back of the net after 34 minutes. Callum Chambers' diagonal delivery was, with a looping header,nodded to the back post by Lambert and swept home by Adam Lallana.
The goal was, however, ruled out with the offside Jay Rodriguez deemed, under new regulations, to have interfered with an opponent, Foster, as he leapt for the ball.
Albion attacks were infrequent, with their best offering of the half amounting to a Graham Dorrans free-kick from 30 yards which curled narrowly over the right-angle.
It was not only the Saints' new arrivals who were excelling. Luke Shaw, declared fit after his absence for England's Under-21s in midweek, once again demonstrated his attacking abilities with a swerving shot which forced Foster to tip around his post.
There was an improvement, albeit marginal, from Steve Clarke's side upon resumption. But what had been a disappointing spectacle dominated by Southampton was instead now balanced, yet still a lacklustre
Opportunities remained at a premium. Shane Long's fanciful flicked effort from Liam Ridgewell's cross which skipped comfortably past the post was nothing more than a half chance, yet it was one of the closer attempts.
A stalemate appeared inevitable until the dying seconds when Youssouf Mulumbu upended Chambers inside the penalty and, of course, up stepped Lambert to cap his perfect week.
Artur Boruc ensured there was to be no last twist in the tale when he saved superbly from Billy Jones in time added on.
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