Michael Owen, Manchester United's free transfer replacement for Carlos Tevez, sealed a 4-3 victory against Manchester City at Old Trafford with a goal six minutes into injury-time of a dramatic Manchester derby.
Owen, a 78th-minute replacement for Dimitar Berbatov, beat Shay Given with a clinical finish from Ryan Giggs's pass after Craig Bellamy looked to have won a point with a 90th-minute equaliser.
City looked set for their first defeat of the campaign when Darren Fletcher scored his second of the game on 80 minutes to put United 3-2 ahead.
But Bellamy, who had earlier cancelled out Fletcher's first header, made it 3-3 in the final minute when he escaped Rio Ferdinand before scoring from an impossibly acute angle.
Owen had the final say, though, when he prodded in from 12 yards deep into stoppage time to score his first goal for the club at Old Trafford.
Rarely has the build-up to a Manchester derby been so rancorous, with both sides going into this game having exchanged verbal volleys and swipes.
The United camp continue to be stung by the now infamous 'Welcome to Manchester' billboard, produced by City earlier this summer, which implied that Tevez's departure from Old Trafford to Eastlands had finally ensured the Argentine's arrival in the city.
United supporters responded with banners of their own; 'Your Players Make Money, Our Players Make History,' proclaimed one draped at the Stretford End.
But would the game live up to the hype? It became clear that it would once Wayne Rooney put United ahead inside two minutes.
The England forward took his goal tally to six this season after Patrice Evra had capitalised on Giggs's quick throw-in.
Receiving the ball on the edge of the six-yard box, Rooney stepped inside challenges from Nigel de Jong and Kolo Toure before slotting past Shay Given from close range.
United failed to press home their advantage, though, and City steadied before Gareth Barry deservedly equalised on 16 minutes following a costly mix-up between Rio Ferdinand and Ben Foster.
Tevez pounced and dispossessed Foster on the edge of the area before laying off for Barry to score from 20 yards.
Buoyed by the equaliser, City proceeded to dominate the remainder of the first-half and Tevez should have scored when he hit the post on the stroke of half-time.
United were so poor in the first-half that an improvement was inevitable after the break and the champions made the perfect start with Fletcher restoring their lead on 49 minutes.
Giggs's high cross into the penalty area found the Scot bursting into the danger zone and Fletcher nodded the ball past the rooted Given to make it 2-1.
Once again, City responded well to going behind and Bellamy hauled them level on 52 minutes with a stunning long-range goal.
A sweeping move, which saw Tevez play the crucial pass, resulted in Bellamy shooting past Foster from 20 yards.
It required a superb save from Given on 65 minutes to keep City level, though, when the Irishman somehow kept out Dimitar Berbatov's header from Giggs's corner.
Given repeated the trick three minutes later when, after some Giggs brilliance, he kept out another goalbound Berbatov header.
The former Newcastle keeper then produced another wonder save to tip over Giggs's 70th minute volley.
Given could do nothing to deny Fletcher, whose powerful header looked set to win the points for United.
Bellamy then seemingly salvaged a draw for City before Owen capped an incredible game with his late, late winner
