Joao Palhinha's late header saw Fulham edge Southampton 2-1 at Craven Cottage as Nathan Jones' side remained rooted to the foot of the Premier League
The hosts led at the break through James Ward-Prowse's unfortunate own goal, only for the Southampton captain to make amends by deservedly bringing his team level with a stunning long-range free-kick
However, just as it seemed as though Jones was about to earn his first point in charge of his new club, up popped Palhinha to inflict a "devastating" defeat on the visitors, who stay bottom, while the Cottagers move up to seventh place in the table
On a day when the Fulham faithful - including one-time manager Roy Hodgson - paid tribute to both Pele (who played a friendly with Santos at Craven Cottage in 1973) and their former World Cup-winning full-back George Cohen, who sadly died just before Christmas, with a rousing minute's applause, their side left it late to earn all three points against a dogged Saints outfit
In fact, the visitors were unfortunate to find themselves trailing at half-time after first spurning a great opportunity to take the lead, only for Bernd Leno to deny Che Adams in a one-on-one, before then falling behind in bizarre circumstances
Willian's clever, floated corner from the left found Andreas Pereira unmarked on the edge of the box, although his wild strike was going nowhere near the goal - until deflected into his own net by the outstretched leg of Ward-Prowse
The Saints captain made up for that, however, by levelling matters 11 minutes after the break in now customary style as Fulham gave away a free-kick some 30 yards from goal, with predictable consequences
Everyone in the ground knew what was about to happen, including Leno, who dived full length to his left but was still left clutching at thin air as the midfielder's beautifully struck set play sailed into the top right-hand corner
Both sides had chances to win it thereafter, but it was the hosts who took the points when Kenny Tete flicked on a corner for Palhinha to nod in at the far post and there was even time for top-scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic to see his injury-time penalty saved by Gavin Bazunu
"It's a big three points for us from a tough match," he said
 "We expected a tough match, we know their capacity, they have good players who can punish you
"But we have finished an amazing 2022 for us
 A year that has been special for us and our fans
 I believe we deserved the three points, even if it wasn't our best performance
 It was our moment to have a late goal to decide the game
"Fulham will start the year in the top eight, but Silva played down any raised expectations
"We have to be realistic and I am," he added
 "We are an ambitious club, but we know our reality
 We have to keep our feet on the ground
 It's realistic to fight to remain in the Premier League
"We have 25 points which is a good achievement from ourselves
 We showed we are growing as a team and a club as well
""To have that level of performance and to come out with nothing is very frustrating," he said
"We showed at times we can be a good team, but we can't keep conceding goals if we want to pick up points
 Today was a much-improved performance level
"We have to defend our box and there's lessons to be learned
 There's a good side in there, but at the minute we're not giving ourselves a chance
"There's a naivety to our defending which is costing us games
 I'm really pleased with the level of performance but absolutely devastated at the manner we conceded
"What a value-for-money signing Palhinha has proved to be for Fulham, who bought the Portugal international from Sporting Lisbon for just £20 million last summer, if that can be be believed
Already, though, the holding midfielder is one of the first names on Marcon Silva's team sheet with his vital ability to break up opposition attacks while stationed in front of his own back four
However, the 27-year-old is more than just a destroyer who puts out fires, as seen at Craven Cottage on Saturday when with the clock ticking down to full time, the tall No 6 rose highest of all to head his side to victory
This already felt like a big match for new Southampton manager Nathan Jones who, despite having been at the helm at St Mary's since November 10, was taking charge of just his third Premier League at Fulham after replacing Ralph Hasenhuttl on the south coast
Jones lost his first two matches by the same 3-1 scoreline, at Liverpool just before the World Cup and then at home to rivals Brighton and Hove Albion on Boxing Day, meaning he was really hoping for a case of third-time lucky at formidable Craven Cottage
However, despite impressing for large spells of the clash in the capital in their best display so far under the Welshman, the Saints still fell to their third defeat in a row under their new boss and this one, coming so late on in a game that could have gone either way at the end, will have stung
In fact, Jones described Joao Palhinha's 88th-minute winner as "devastating", especially given how well his players had done to level matters in the second half, but that all counted for nothing come the full-time whistle
And now the former Luton Town boss must somehow try and get his team up for a massive relegation six-pointer at home to fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night in a clash the Saints, still rock bottom, a point behind their opponents in midweek, simply must win if they are to avoid getting cast adrift
Fulham travel to Leicester City on Tuesday (7
45pm), while Southampton host fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest on Wednesday (7
30pm) in a huge relegation six pointer
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