Rise of a Football God

In the 59th minute, Aston Villa scored.

They went ahead for the first time this game.

In the 64th minute, Andersen got a straight red card after an overzealous challenge, dooming Fulham to play the rest of the game with just 10 men.

There was still 26 minutes to play in this game, and not just that, Fulham were trailing one goal behind their opponents.

Immediately after the red card decision by the referee, Coach Marco Silva responded immediately, making changes.

Marco Silva took off Pereira and Emile Smith Rowe who was having a bad game in his standards since making the switch to Fulham. In place of the 2 attacking players, he put in Diop, a defender, and Cairney, a more well-rounded player.

Fulham's playstyle on the pitch changed immediately, becoming a bit more defensive to make up for the loss of one player.

FWEEE!

When play restarted though, it was clear that Fulham was shaky.

Through the course of the past few weeks and months, a lot of pressure was already being mounted on their shoulders, most especially after they did the impossible of actually being at the top of the premier league table.

In the preparations to this game, the pressure mounted, affecting them a bit but they managed to shrug it off due to the time they had to prepare for the game.

But after that red card? Everything crumbled.

Fulham lost their grit and compactness; they were like a chicken without a head as soon as the game restarted after the red card.

And sensing weakness, Aston Villa pounced.

For the second straight game, Sam was forced to track back, putting in defensive work to help his teammates weather the sudden oppression from the Aston Villa players.

The Fulham fans were still loud, roaring on their team, hoping for a miracle but then, just 5 minutes later, the worst happened.

The Aston Villa pressure got so much that one of the Fulham defenders made a mistake, executing an atrocious interception of the ball from an Aston Villa cross.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Instead of clearing the ball or intercepting it, Diop made a fatal mistake, instead poking the ball into his own net and scoring an own goal.

"Oh my God!"

"Fulham are being picked apart!"

"They've been exposed completely after that red card, this is not Fulham, they're crumbling from within and that own goal is the perfect show of it".

"It was just a matter of time".

"You can't challenge for the premier league title with such a squad. It's impressive that they managed to stay up top for so long, but let's be realistic, they never stood a chance".

"If not Aston Villa, another club would have exposed them eventually".

"To me, the Fulham fans should be grateful that it happened at all, the past few weeks and months was an unforgettably terrific time to them".

"Will this dissolve into a rout? Fulham are clearly disorganized, let's watch, time will tell".

The Fulham players deflated after that goal.

Only a certain player was not yet dissuaded as his competitive spirit lit up even more at the challenge of striving for a comeback and winning with 10 men.

'Win!' 'Win!' 'Win!'

The mantra already started in Sam's head. As play restarted, all he thought about was winning but his teammates were just not in the same wavelength as him.

First, Emile Smith Rowe was no longer in the pitch and second, no other Fulham player believed that they could do anything this game.

This forced Sam into a one-man army scenario.

He could tell that no word he said to his teammates at this point would affect a thing. From the look in their eyes, the pressure already got to them and they were already broken, this was not something that could be fixed with mere words.

This was why Sam decided to fix it with his brilliance.

The whole Fulham team was playing bad this second half except one man, Sam. He ignored his coach's orders, running all over the pitch, chasing after the ball as he challenged with his sheer work rate.

"This is what separates Sam from other players. The young Nigerian midfielder does not know how to give up, he keeps on going, striving".

"He's clocked the most kilometers in this game by a significant margin".

"His work rate is insane, he's trying his best, if only he was playing for a bigger club, he would truly have the opportunity to blossom".

Sam kept on doing what he was doing, pushed by only the thought of winning but Aston Villa was too experienced to let one player ruin all their hard work. Discover more stories at empire

Besides, Dibu Martinez was having a terrific game.

Sam already singlehandedly created a few chances for himself, testing the Aston Villa goalkeeper more than once but Martinez always rose up to his challenge every single time.

Frustration started boiling in but Sam did not let it overwhelm him just yet.

He kept on going, he kept on striving.

'I can't lose!'

'I must win!'

'I can't afford to lose, I must win!'

75 minutes passed…

80 minutes passed…

90 minutes passed…

"Surely, it is the end now, Fulham have been picked apart by a rampant Aston Villa side today".

All of Sam's work was in vain, he could not get a second goal for Fulham. But then in the 90th plus 3 minutes, another mistake was added to the catalogue of mistakes in this game as Philogene, the Aston Villa substitute committed a blunder, fouling a Fulham player just outside his box.

FWEEEE!

The referee immediately awarded a straight red card, pointing to the spot for a freekick in favor of Fulham.

"It's a red card to Aston Villa but at this point, it's of no consequence, the game is already over".

The game may be over but as Sam approached the ball, Alex Iwobi was surprised to see a fire still burning in the eyes of this player.

The Nigerian international was amazed. 'He still hasn't given up?'

Standing before the ball, Sam spread his legs in an iconic stance reminisce of the Portuguese legend, Cristiano Ronaldo, and then he took a deep breath.

FWEEEE!

As soon as the referee's whistle sounded, Sam executed an angled run towards the ball, then…

BAM!

Sam hit the ball low, under the wall of Aston Villa players as it rotated with speed till it nestled into the bottom right corner.

Craven Cottage was again silenced.