Adam Armstrong’s 97th-minute penalty saved Russell Martin’s St Mary’s curtain-raiser as Southampton drew a topsy-turvy 4-4 clash with Norwich.
Josh Sargent gave the Canaries an early lead before Saints hit back to claim the lead through Jan Bednarek and Armstrong’s first spot-kick.
But Norwich returned their advantage by half-time thanks to Gabriel Sara’s thunderbolt and Jon Rowe’s header.
Che Adams got Saints back level before Christian Fassnacht thought he had won it six minutes from time with his first Norwich goal, only for Armstrong’s last-gasp penalty.
Former Norwich player Martin was taking charge of Southampton at St Mary’s for the first time and aiming to become the first Saints manager since Glenn Hoddle in 2000 to win their first two league matches.
After an early sighter from Rowe, Sargent gave Martin a rude awakening to life on the south coast as the Canaries striker finished off a swift attack in the seventh minute.
Ashley Barnes had brilliantly held up the ball before releasing Jack Stacey to stand up a cross at the back post for Sargent to open his account for the season.
What came next was a frantic 344 seconds which saw the game see-saw with three goals.
It started with a recycled corner whipped back into the box by Kyle Walker-Peters, new club captain Jack Stephens’ header was saved but centre back Bednarek was on hand to smash in his first goal since April 2022 with the rebound.
Three minutes later, in the 20th minute, Will Smallbone’s cross was handled by Shane Duffy. Armstrong stepped up and converted for his second goal of the season.
But the Canaries went straight back up the other end, where Brazilian Sara controlled the ball around Smallbone before rifling into the top corner with his left foot.
Shane Duffy hit the side netting, Armstrong had a header cleared off the line and Stephens bravely blocked from Kenny McLean to continue the exhilarating first half.
Rowe managed to find a free header from a Sara corner in stoppage time to loop Norwich back into the lead.
There was little let up in the second half as Adams came off the bench for a second week in a row to find the back of the net.
The former Birmingham attacker thumped a low shot across the face of goal and into the bottom corner.
Both sides had good chances to win the game but for heroic defending and keeping. Carlos Alcaraz had one shot saved and another grazed the crossbar.
Norwich sub Fassnacht was crowded out on the counter, before Angus Gunn produced a stunning save to keep out Armstrong’s acrobatic effort.
But the Canaries took the lead for a third time with six minutes to go as Ryan Manning made a hash of clearing Dimitris Giannoulis’ cross to give Fassnacht a simple finish.
But Giannoulis’ nudge on Walker-Peters gave Armstrong his second penalty of the game. Alcaraz even had time to curl a 98th-minute effort just wide to conclude a thrilling fixture.
Rangers 1-4 Lyon: Lacazette and Fofana at the double as Clement's men outclassed
Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette each scored twice as Lyon outclassed Rangers 4-1 in the Europa League at Ibrox on Thursday.
Former Arsenal striker Lacazette scored twice before the break after Tom Lawrence had earlier cancelled out Fofana's opener in Glasgow, with the latter also netting again in the second half.
Vaclav Cerny was punished for woefully blazing over the bar when Fofana bent home on the rebound from the hugely impressive Rayan Cherki's shot after 10 minutes.
Lawrence quickly prodded home the equaliser when Cyriel Dessers was denied, but an awful error from Connor Barron led to Fofana laying on a simple finish for Lacazette.
The Frenchman then made it 3-1 with a whipped 25-yard stunner before the break and Fofana poked home Cherki's low cross at the back post to add more gloss shortly after the restart.
Duje Caleta-Car saw a header thunder off the crossbar and Corentin Tolisso had a shot cleared off the line, while substitute Said Benrahma was also denied as Lyon pushed to really emphasise their dominance of proceedings.
Data Debrief: Lyon forwards tormentors in chief
Rangers, who won impressively at Malmo on MD1, just had no answer for the dynamism of a Lyon side who are now two from two and second in the table.
Lacazette was playing his 50th game in the Europa League and scored his 23rd and 24th goals in the competition. Only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (34) and Aritz Aduriz (26) have scored more since his first appearance in September 2012.
Cherki set up both of Fofana's goals in an excellent display and has six goal involvements in only five Europa League starts (three goals, three assists), while Fofana scored and assisted in the same game for the first time for Lyon.
Rangers have a night to forget and this represented only the first time in the Europa League/UEFA Cup they have conceded four goals at home, and only the third time overall.
City striker 'Bunny' Shaw targets more success with hopes of inspiring young girls in Jamaica
Despite achieving much of what she set out to already, Reggae Girl and Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw intends to keep pushing the barriers and she hopes to inspire others to chase their dreams.
Shaw, who has overcome her fair share of obstacles and tragedies to get to where she is at, has been a role model for young athletes in Jamaica and the Caribbean, particularly aspiring women’s football players, as she continues to impress on the international stage and in the Women's Super League (WSL) since her move to City in 2021.
The 27-year-old ended last season as the WSL’s top scorer, assisting the Gareth Taylor-coached side to the runners-up position behind champions Chelsea, merely on goal difference.
Her performances throughout that campaign, which was cut short by a broken leg, also saw her cop the PFA Women's Players' Player of the year and the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year awards.
"When I look back at my childhood, I didn’t really have a lot of people I could look to, apart from Usain Bolt, of course. I didn’t have a lot of people who I could look to and say, ‘I want to be like that.’ One of the main reasons was that I wasn’t really allowed to play," Shaw said in an interview with BBC Sport.
“Now, looking at where the game is and where it is going, I think there is more room for that. For me, it’s just being alive and being in the moment. It’s staying true to who I am. Hopefully, by doing that each and every day, it works out in the end,” she added.
Black History Month in England, celebrated throughout the month of October, continues to shine a spotlight on athletes who have broken barriers to achieve success.
With her accolades and accomplishments speaking for themselves, Shaw is aiming to continue setting the standard for others to follow.
"I just try to be the best I can be and hope that by doing that, there are others looking on [who can] see that if I can do it, then it’s possible. Hopefully I can inspire a lot of the young girls back home in Jamaica that it is definitely possible,” the two-time Ballon d'Or award nominee shared.
"It’s been a long journey for me. I had to travel around the world to get here. Now I am here, I’m just embracing the moment and loving every part of it. The ups and downs are parts of life and that’s how you grow as a person. But I just try to be the best that I can and hopefully inspire more girls,” Shaw noted.
Chelsea 4-2 Gent: Veiga and Dewsbury-Hall off the mark in Conference League cracker
Renato Veiga and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall each scored their first Chelsea goals in a cracking 4-2 victory over Gent in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Enzo Maresca decided to make wholesale changes in the Blues' opening match of the league phase of Europe's third-tier competition, but they were still a class above their Belgian opponents.
Full-back Veiga headed Chelsea into a 12th-minute lead after Mykhailo Mudryk stood up a brilliant cross from the right and Dewsbury-Hall fired into the side-netting when he ought to have scored soon after.
Despite their domination of the ball, it took the Blues until the 46th minute to double their lead when Pedro Neto took hold of Axel Disasi's long punt and fired into the roof of the goal.
Some slack Chelsea defending was punished when Tsuyoshi Watanabe headed in from the cross of Andri Gudjohnsen, son of Blues great Eidur.
Christopher Nkunku rifled home from just inside the area after Gent failed to clear their lines just after the hour and Dewsbury-Hall shot straight through the goalkeeper after Nkunku was tackled attempting to take a shot – with Omri Gandelman celebrating a late consolation for the visitors.
Data Debrief: Dewsbury-Hall stakes his Chelsea claim
This was a great chance for a few Chelsea players to stake their claim for more regular Premier League minutes and Dewsbury-Hall put in an industrious performance to do his chances no harm.
Signed from Leicester City in the last transfer window, the centre midfielder had four shots in total, three of which were in the box, and scored from his one big chance. He also had an impressive 91.2% pass accuracy.
Neto too had a very lively outing, creating five chances in total and finishing with a pass accuracy rate of 97%.
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