Southampton stole a late victory in the Championship's curtain-raiser as Che Adams cancelled out Lee Gregory's second-half equaliser to wrap up a 1-2 away victory for Russell Martin's side.
The first-half was a sea of red and white as Southampton flexed their former Premier League muscle by dominating almost every passage of play and taking the lead in the eighth minute after Nathan Tella's piercing curling effort deflected off an unknowing Adam Armstrong and past Cameron Dawson.
Sheffield had been penned back in their own half for almost the entirety of the first-half but somehow held on to remain just one-goal down at half-time and emerged with a different attacking identity in the second period of play as they hauled themselves level not long after the restart.