Lincoln City snatched a dramatic late equaliser to hold Championship promotion hopefuls Southampton to a 1-1 draw at the ProAmpac Stadium, in a result that will please the home supporters far more than the visitors.
Southampton looked to have done enough to take all three points after Welington broke the deadlock right on the stroke of half-time. The full-back's effort was struck with real venom, giving the home goalkeeper no chance and appearing to have settled the contest in the Saints' favour.
However, Lincoln refused to give up and were rewarded deep into stoppage time when record signing Mikkel Ladefoged found the net for the first time since arriving in English football. His intervention denied Southampton a victory that would have kept them firmly in the promotion picture, and instead handed the Imps a point they had fought hard for throughout the contest.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Stoke City produced one of the results of the weekend as they demolished a Charlton Athletic side that had arrived unbeaten in the league this season. The Potters were ruthless at the Bet365 Stadium, racing into a commanding lead before half-time thanks to a double from debutant Justin Devenny along with further goals from Ethan Galbraith and George Hirst.
Charlton's afternoon deteriorated further after the break when substitute Danny McNamara was shown a second yellow card and sent off inside just three minutes of picking up his first caution. The full-back was initially booked for pulling back Eric Bocat before compounding his error by remonstrating with referee Robert Madley, leaving his side to play out the remainder of the match with 10 men.
With the scoreline already beyond doubt, the second half became something of a formality, with both teams content to play out the remaining minutes in a more relaxed fashion. Stoke, despite their overwhelming dominance, did not add to their tally after the interval, but the damage had long since been done.
The result continues an encouraging start to the season for Stoke, while Charlton will need to regroup quickly after suffering their first league defeat of the campaign in such emphatic fashion.
For Southampton, the draw at Lincoln represents a missed opportunity to close the gap on the division's front-runners, with their promotion rivals continuing to pick up points at pace. Lincoln, meanwhile, will take great satisfaction from a battling display against one of the favourites for automatic promotion, with Ladefoged's late strike offering a timely boost for both player and club.
The two results add further intrigue to what is shaping up to be a highly competitive Championship season, with both promotion chasers and relegation-threatened sides already producing eye-catching outcomes just a handful of games into the campaign.
Attention across the division will now turn to how both Southampton and Charlton respond to setbacks that will have disrupted their early-season momentum, while Stoke will hope to build on a performance that showcased their attacking threat in emphatic style.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.