Hillsborough was packed to the rafters as two of the league’s new boys kicked off a Championship season packed with English football’s most historic clubs.
Southampton’s former Premier League squad was full of household names, but it was the momentum and belief of a remarkable League One play-off run that carried Wednesday into the opening minutes as they produced a flurry of early attempts, each deflected away by a visiting defender.
That momentum was to be short-lived, as a familiar name on last season’s Championship scoresheets helped net the first goal of the new campaign. Nathan Tella, scorer of 17 in his loan spell at Burnley last year, cut inside and whipped a sumptuous left-footed strike just inside the far post.
Cruelly for the winger, replays revealed that the ball deflected off Adam Armstrong on the way in, but there were no complaints from Russell Martin as his side nevertheless went ahead.
Thereon, possession was utterly dominated by the visitors, but they were unable to build on their lead despite playing a league-record 477 passes before the break.
There was considerably more for home fans to shout about after HT, as new boss Xisco Muñoz’s players reacted to his words in the dressing room and quickly hit an equaliser.
Dominic Iorfa rose highest to meet a corner, heading it down for Lee Gregory who picked out the bottom corner with expert precision.
Predictably, the run of play swung back to the Saints, and the likes of Samuel Edozie began to get some joy in the wide areas.
Maintaining their patience after a frustrating lull in proceedings, Southampton struck the killer blow late on, as James Ward-Prowse ghosted in behind and cut it back for substitute Adams, who made no mistake in rolling past Cameron Dawson with a first-time finish.
There was no way back for the Owls, leaving Xisco disappointed that his side failed to take anything from his first competitive game in charge since taking over from Darren Moore, but their performance will serve as a stark reminder to Southampton as to the quality on display in the Championship.
With a marathon 45 games remaining, the Saints' credentials face many further tests yet as they set about the daunting task of returning to the top-flight at the first time of asking, something only 31% of 20th-placed Premier League sides have done.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kyle Walker-Peters (Southampton)
