Crystal Palace boss Dougie Freedman paid tribute to Glenn Murray after his brace saw the Eagles pick up their first points of the season.
The former Brighton striker struck after just 29 seconds and then fired the winner seven minutes from time to end Sheffield Wednesday's unbeaten 18-match league run under manager Dave Jones.
And Freedman admitted that Murray had been difference between the two sides as Palace moved off the foot of the Championship table courtesy of the 2-1 victory at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
"He was fantastic today," said Freedman. "I feel very strongly on Glenn Murray because I was the one who brought him to the club and he put in some incredible work for the team.
"I believe we will get better and stronger but we showed some real character to win the game.
"We were low on confidence and playing against a side who have gone on a long unbeaten run.
"I think our performance showed exactly what this club is all about."
Palace have only ever lost their first four matches in a league season once - back in 1925 - but they got off to the perfect start when new signing Yannick Bolasie picked out Murray for the striker to volley home.
Wednesday almost hit back immediately through Michail Antonio and they looked the more likely to score as the half went on.
But they had to wait until after the break to get back on level terms as Antonio headed home from Miguel Llera's corner.
Palace found it difficult to respond until Murray was awarded a penalty 17 minutes from time after a challenge from Mark Beevers.
Referee Rob Lewis eventually changed his mind after consulting with his assistant, with Owen Garvan denied the opportunity to re-establish Palace's lead.
Murray then went close with a header before a brilliant piece of skill from England Under-21 starlet Wilfried Zaha saw him dispossess Daniel Jones and pick out the striker unmarked to stroke home from close range.
That was enough to inflict Wednesday's first defeat in the league since Dave Jones took charge back on March 1, with the manager blaming the referee's indecisiveness for handing Palace the points.
He said: "It's unbelievable - the referee turned the whole game. I thought he was poor.
"You can say he got it right in the end but he whipped up a frenzy with the fans and after that every challenge we made seemed to go against us.
"They're big decisions and he changed the whole complexion of the game.
"It's a difficult place to come without them giving them a helping hand along the way.
"We probably didn't do enough to win the game but we certainly didn't deserve to lose it."
