Fernando Forestieri's goal five minutes from time gave Sheffield Wednesday a winning start to the Sky Bet Championship season as they beat Aston Villa 1-0 at Hillsborough.
A poor clearance from Villa debutant Pierluigi Gollini allowed Forestieri to score the only goal of the game as Roberto Di Matteo's men began life in the second tier with a defeat.
Villa, who have not been outside the top tier since the 1987-88 campaign, were up against it early on.
Their skipper Tommy Elphick was forced to make an important clearance early on as Forestieri looked to get on the end of a low cross from Daniel Pudil.