Rise of a Football God

(Premier league:)

(Fulham – Crystal Palace)

(Date: 27th April, 2024)

…

(Brentford – Fulham)

(Date: 4th May, 2024)

…

(Fulham – Manchester City)

(Date: 11th May, 2024)

Fulham's next game was against Crystal Palace in the premier league.

After the 2 hours spent alongside Kayla Banks in the restaurant, Sam got a new friend. He didn't think too deeply into it though and when he next spoke with his best friend, he informed Ian about Kayla.

"Hmm, Sam Sam," Ian burst out laughing as soon as Sam was done narrating. "Just friends huh?" He laughed.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Ian laughed still. "I just feel like laughing, but just friends?"

"Yeah, just friends".

"Ok, I believe you". Ian stared at his best friend for a few seconds and then, not able to help himself, he burst out laughing again.

"Hey!" Sam complained.

"Honestly, Sam, sometimes, you're just so cute and innocent, you're not like an Abraka bred at all".

"A girl you just met in the hotel, such a beautiful girl for that matter will just approach you, going to the extent of inconveniencing herself just to get that close to you and you think it's just to be friends?"

Sam stared at his best friend. "If it's to not be friends, then what?"

"…" Ian was speechless. 'You don't mean it!'

Ian coughed violently. "Ahem…, never mind, she's just a friend, yeah".

"Right".

Ian coughed again.

…

After that episode involving Kayla and Ian, Sam quickly slept everything off and when he woke up the next day, he was as fresh as freshly baked bread.

'The grind continues'.

Without hesitation, Sam went about his day, starting it with completing his daily system quest like usual before quickly getting set and reporting for training.

After the game against Liverpool, it was clear to the premier league that Fulham FC was back in form and teams were now wary of them again.

Despite their recent form, the Fulham squad was not complacent though, especially Sam. After learning the bitter price of underestimating an opponent, he never dared to make the same mistake a second time.

This was why Sam dived into training again and motivated by his work rate, his teammates strived to go beyond their limits again.

Like this, the days moved swiftly and in no time, it was already 6 days.

It was D-day of Fulham's next game.

Welcoming Crystal Palace to Craven Cottage, under the roar of tens of thousands of Fulham supporters, the Fulham players proved to their fans on the pitch that their form was here to stay on the long run.

From the very first minute, the Fulham players full of energy ran the Crystal Palace players ragged, totally dominating the midfield battle.

Fulham held possession for majority of this game but they found it hard to score a goal, until a moment of individual brilliance from their star.

This time, it was De Cordova-Reid. After receiving a pass from Palhinha, the Fulham winger went on a mazy run, gliding past multiple Crystal Palace players before poking the ball into the bottom corner of the net in emphatic fashion.

In the 38th minute, De Cordova-Reid broke the deadlock.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

After that, the Fulham domination only became more absolute but the second goal refused to come till halftime.

Throughout the first half, Crystal Palace's attack was completely nullified.

When second half started, the Fulham intensity reduced a bit but they remained the dominating team and in the 52nd minute, Muniz finally added the nail to the coffin, scoring a screamer to take the game totally from Crystal Palace.

For the rest of the game, Fulham dominated till a Crystal Palace shocker in the 87th minute against the run of play cut the Fulham lead to half.

It was just a consolation goal though, the game ended 2-1 in Fulham's favor.

This was a team in imperious form.

Despite not getting a goal contribution, Sam still had a solid performance.

6 days later, Fulham went on the road, and this time, they played in enemy territory, in Brentford's home stadium, the 17,250 capacity Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford.

In this game, many predicted Fulham to finally lose their winning streak against a dangerous Brentford side and at first, it was truly a tough game.

After an intense first half heavyweight clash that saw 5 yellow cards, including Sam taking his first yellow card of the season, the game ended 0-0.

During second half, both teams came at each other with even more intensity.

With the dangerous duo of Ivan Toney, the English center forward and Mbeumo, Brentford were absolutely devastating on the attack but the Fulham attack did not pale in comparison as they were also menacing.

This was a high-octane game of attacking football. The defense of both teams were stretched, pushed to their limits by the unrelenting attacks from both sides.

And finally, after a tight affair for almost 80 minutes, the deadlock was broken and this time, having missed out on a goal contribution in the previous game, Sam became the decider this time.

And this time, he scored from a header.

Abusing his height as a corner kick was floated in by Willian, Sam outjumped all the other players, heading into the bottom corner to score a bullish goal, once again showing his relentless competitive spirit.

As soon as the ball entered the net, even as the stadium went silent, Sam charged towards the corner and when he slowed down, he pointed his fingers to heaven, doing the iconic Messi gratitude celebration.

For the rest of this game, 10+ minutes, the Brentford players played like men possessed as they chased the equalizer but it was not meant to be.

During the final minutes, Bernd Leno was absolutely immense, turning into a prime Thibaut Courtois as he thwarted all Brentford attacks, helping his team hold on till the final whistle.

With that win, Fulham extended their winning streak to 4 wins.

Fulham was truly in imperious form but after their run of 4 straight wins, finally, after the Brentford game, they faced their greatest test of grit yet.

Fulham's next game, they would be taking on the indomitable Manchester City who already entered their unstoppable title-charging form.

This game was poised to be Fulham's greatest test all season.

Could they perform a miracle and win?

Or more realistically, could they even rescue a point against Manchester City by getting a draw?