West Ham midfielder Lee Bowyer was delighted to be on the mark in their 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic.
It looked like Hammers' second home defeat in a row in a season in which their raft of expensive signings should be promising a high Premier League position.
But then came substitute Bowyer's strike just two minutes later and boss Alan Curbishley said: "Lee has been desperate for a goal.
"He did everything right to get in there earlier when Luis (Boa Morte) broke through and he just missed out but I was delighted for him when it finally happened.
"Lee has been great here. He had an injury last season which set him back but when I put him on as sub today I knew exactly what I would get from him."
Bowyer, originally on loan at West Ham before joining them permanently from Newcastle last season, said: "The boss sent me on and said to just keep plugging away and the ball will drop for you.
"We wasted a couple of chances in the first half and had to fight back but spirit did it for us. We didn't just lie down and accept defeat and we deserved to get a point."
Curbishley admitted: "I'm disappointed we had to come back after dominating the game because by half-time with the amount of possession we had we should certainly have got something. Wigan got stronger in the second half, though.
"Lee has been unlucky in pre-season not to score but the history of his career shows he does score and today I thought he really deserved it.
"I thought we should have had a penalty when Mark Noble was tugged but we got one last week at Birmingham and you have to accept that. Wigan asked us to break them down and we couldn't do it."
Curbishley admitted: "We haven't taken full advantage of our starting fixtures. I thought we would have got more points than this after three games but the games are still evenly-balanced up until Christmas."
