Rise of a Football God

Manchester City…

In recent years in England, this name was synonymous with excellence and greatness. The last few years of the premier league were all Manchester City as under Pep Guardiola, the Manchester-based club already built a dynasty.

The club in sky blue were the new Kings of England.

In the premier league, having won 5 out of the last 6 premier league titles, they were on top and in the 2022/2023 season, they finally broke their European drought, bagging home the elusive champions league trophy.

And they didn't stop with a champions league trophy back in 2023, as with the electric duo of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne spearheading the team from the front, Manchester City went all the way to win the treble.

Just last season, they broke Manchester United's record of consecutive premier league wins, winning 4 straight premier league titles.

In the modern premier league, Manchester City was a behemoth.

And it was this behemoth that Fulham was going up against today.

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This was not Sam's first time facing the champions. Back in the FIFA World Cup final with Enyimba, he already faced them once and lost. And last season with Fulham, he faced them the second time and rescued a point for his team.

He had a good historical record against Manchester City.

But there was a prevalent theme in both games, Manchester City were playing away from their home ground.

In the FIFA World Cup final, they played in neutral ground and last season against Fulham, they played in Craven Cottage.

This time though, Sam did not have that luxury cushioning the lethality of the reigning premier league champions.

This time, the showdown was taking place in enemy territory, the Etihad.

Alongside his teammates, Sam was amazed by the loud noise made by the fans in sky blue around the Etihad stadium as they stepped into the pitch.

Of course, both teams started with their strongest lineups.

Manchester City started with Ederson in between the posts, and the quadruple of Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, and Josko Gvardiol ahead of him. Mateo Kovacic started as the sole holding midfielder.

Ahead of him comprised of a 4-man offense of Bernado Silva, Phil Foden, Ikay Gundogan, and Jack Grealish, while leading the line was the prolific Erling Haaland.

For this game, Coach Marco Silva tweaked his formation to make it more defensive in this tough stadium, playing a 5-4-1 formation.

Bernd Leno started in between the posts, while the improvised 5-man defense comprised of Robinson from the left, Bassey, Andersen, and Tete. The 5th face was an unfamiliar one in defense, Alex Iwobi.

This game, Alex Iwobi was tasked with the role of an inverted wingback. He had the freedom to drift from the back into midfield anytime he wanted.

The 4-man midfield comprised of Adama Traore from the left, Sam, Emile Smith Rowe, and Pereira on the right. Raul Jimenez led the lineup up top.

FWEEEE!

As soon as the referee's whistle sounded, the game started.

And from the get-go, it was clear that Manchester City meant business.

The media already pushed this game to the front of the masses, painting it as an absolute top of the table clash.

The fans in sky blue were riled up long before the game, they wanted a bloodbath and with their loud noise buoying their players, the Manchester City players played with the intention to slaughter.

Despite playing in the Etihad though, Fulham quickly showed that they had no intentions of rolling their bellies up in defeat due to intimidation.

Fulham was no longer a small club that would be intimidated.

During the first few minutes of this game, Manchester City dominated possession, their forward quadruple of Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Ikay Gundogan, and Jack Grealish torturing them with their silky combination plays.

And with them setting up chances, Erling Haaland hit the post twice while forcing Bernd Leno into an impressive save within just the first 10 minutes.

Despite the fluidity of the champions, led by a certain player, Fulham remained as compact as a rock with no openings.

Sam approached this game with the mentality to do the dirty work, he always knew that playing Manchester City at home was going to be a tough game.

In the middle of the park, he locked the game for Fulham, cutting off any passing lanes with his ridiculous work rate and pressing ability.

Following his example, Fulham dug in, defending like a team and when they occasionally won back possession, it was Sam again leading the threat as he made use of Adama Traore's pace to disturb the champions.

During the first few minutes, it was high-octane display, a back and forth game. Man City had their chances but Fulham also threatened.

It was a nervy game but then, the deadlock was finally broken, against the run of play as Fulham stunned the champions.

"Alex Iwobi to Raul Jimenez, and then Pereira…, PEREIRAAAA!" The commentator screamed as the ball suddenly squirmed into the Man City net.

The move was orchestrated by Paul.

Winning a ball deep in midfield, he sprayed it to the right where Alex Iwobi already ran upfield, overlapping.

With one touch, the Nigerian international passed to Raul Jimenez who skipped past a few heavy challenges in the Man City box before passing back to Alex Iwobi. With a silky touch, Alex retained possession and bid his time.

Once the space opened, he passed back into the box for Jimenez who simply poked the ball into Pereira's space for the midfielder to direct into the far corner.

Ederson stood no chance.

"GOALLL…!" The away fan section in the Etihad exploded with cheers.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Charging towards the corner flag, Pereira jumped, screaming loudly in celebration but the Fulham joy was short-lived.

In the 26th minute, Pereira opened the deadlock and just 6 minutes later, the champions responded.

This time, it was from a corner kick.

As soon as the ball was floated into the Fulham box, Ruben Dias, the Man City defender rose highest, bringing the ball down with his head and just as a scramble started in the Fulham box, a certain Mateo Kovacic arrived first.

Bam!

The Croatian international hit the ball on a volley towards goal.

"Kovacicccc…!!!"

Due to the players blocking him in the box, Bernd Leno did not even see the ball move till it was already in the net.

The Etihad exploded as the fans in sky blue roared back to life.

In the 32nd minute of this game, 1-1.

Game on!

FWEEEE!

When the referee's whistle sounded again, Man City's domination continued.

Fulham in Sam's era may be good but one great player could not make a team of that quality compete with another team comprised entirely of great players.

For the rest of the first half, Man City threatened but with Fulham defending so superbly, it never quite came off. The first half ended 1-1.

Man City's dominance was undeniable though.

The only question was, would their dominance turn into results in the second half? Nobody knew, this was an unpredictable game.

…

After 10 minutes, the players entered the pitch to continue this high-octane affair, and just within a minute, it happened.

Just after kick-off by Man City, a bursting run through the left and a tidy cross was thrown in only to land before a rampaging Mateo Kovacic again.

The Croatian international took one touch to bring the ball down and under control, then his next touch…

BAM!

Kovacic unleashed a thunderous shot from outside the box. Bernd Leno dived but the ball just barely bit him with its speed.

"Kovaciccccc…!!!" The commentator roared again.

"The champions are back! Just within a minute of the restart!"

"Fulham are cooked!"

Mateo Kovacic charged towards the corner flag as he slid on his knees in celebration, turning the Etihad into a boiling cauldron of palpable excitement.

"That goal was straight to the heart of Fulham fans around the world!"

"Will their domination continue?"

It did continue, Fulham were having a tough day at work.