Rise of a Football God

"Max, what do you think is wrong with Fulham?"

"Nothing Charles, like I told you before, there's a Samuel Moses-sized hole in their starting XI, that is the only thing that is wrong with them".

"I mean, come on, do you really think West Ham would have been able to pass Fulham ragged the way they did today if Sam was on the pitch?"

"Let's just forget about his offensive capabilities for a moment. Just do a switch and let's analyze his work rate on the pitch".

"There's a statistic that's going around recently in a premier league twitter page. This season, no attack has gone through Sam's area of the pitch and resulted in a goal".

"Do you know what that means?"

"Sam is so good in locking his area of the pitch that the opponents are never successful in creating any meaningful attack from there".

"That reliable figure, Fulham missed it today".

"Forget about the other areas of the pitch, if that Sam area was locked today, the others would have raised their game from his performance alone".

"Sam's ability is more than just personal ability; he has this charisma on the pitch to effortlessly raise the overall level of his teammates".

"To me, the guy is captain-material already despite his young age".

"It's just unfortunate that he's injured".

"Next season, I can't wait to see the big club that he'll play for. I'm telling you; the footballing world is not ready for the heights that Sam will hit when playing for a big European club".

Just like expected, most of the talk after matchday 21 of the English premier league revolved around Fulham and Samuel Moses as after 21 matchdays, they finally let up and fell to second place, allowing Liverpool to top the league.

To a lot of people who watched, this was the normal status quo, Fulham were back to default settings.

Their prediction was that in no time, Fulham would be out of the top 4 of the English premier league table entirely.

The Fulham players were under a lot of pressure to perform, most especially after how they were totally outplayed by West Ham.

…

(Premier league:)

(Leicester City – Fulham)

(Date: 18th January, 2025)

3 days of rest after traveling to West Ham, the Fulham squad finally made another trip, this time to Leicester City.

After West Ham finally broke the voodoo, taking points off Fulham finally after their record-breaking run of form since the beginning of the season, Leicester City approached this game with high hopes of doing the same.

Just like expected, both premier league teams started with their strongest lineups as Leicester City started with its favored 4-2-3-1 formation just like Fulham.

With Jamie Vardy starting up top as the sole striker, the trio of Mavididi, El Khannouss, and Jordan Ayew started behind him. Further behind them was the duo of Skipp and Soumare.

Their 4-man defense comprised of Justin, Coady, Vestergaard, and Kristiansen while Ward started in between the posts for them.

For Fulham, compared to the lineup that they used against West Ham, the only change Coach Marco Silva made was the fact that Adama Traore started ahead of Harry Wilson today.

FWEEEE!

As soon as the referee's whistle sounded, giving the signal to kickstart the game, Leicester City kicked off the game and they started with a bang.

Riding the energy of their fans, during the first few minutes of this game, they proved extremely threatening even as the Fulham players tried their best to stabilize the game, their defense working on overtime.

Before the game could be stabilized though, a certain Leicester City legend who goes by the name of Jamie Vardy imprinted his name on this game.

"Jamie VARDYYY…!" The commentator screamed.

"What a goal, a twist and turn, then slalom goal!"

"What a moment from the premier league legend!"

In just the 4th minute of the game, Jamie Vardy broke the deadlock, giving his team the lead as charging towards the corner flag, this striker slid on his knees in celebration as the home fans sang praises of their legend.

That goal definitely dampened Fulham hearts, but they were not done yet.

"Come on guys!" Emile Smith Rowe clapped his hands.

In recent weeks, the Englishman discovered that he developed a bad habit due to being around Sam and playing with him week in week out.

He discovered that he now developed a deep hatred for losing and not giving his all till the last moment.

The loss against West Ham heavily impacted him mentally and after going home and reflecting about it, only one question lingered in his mind.

What would Sam had done?

That was why this game as soon as his team went behind again, Smith Rowe decided against staying idle as he played captain today.

And sometimes, that extra nudge was just what his teammates needed.

After that goal, Leicester City thought they would be cruising towards a memorable victory to turn their season around but they could not have been more wrong as Fulham turned the game on its head.

Just 6 minutes after Jamie Vardy's goal, Emile Smith Rowe went on a mazy run into the Fulham 18-yard box, skipping through players like they were not there.

Before he was dispossessed, he snuck the ball into the bottom right corner.

"GOALLL…!" The away fan section erupted immediately.

The Englishman jumped, pumping his fists excitedly as he celebrated. "Come on!"

He was drowned with boos but he didn't care.

That goal turned the momentum of this game around a complete 360%.

Fulham gained control of this game as they seemed to gain their mojo back. They started dominating this game, led by Smith Rowe's impressive form today.

And then it was him again in the 18th minute as dribbling into the box, he forced the Leicester defenders to trip him.

FWEEEE!

"Ohhhh! A penalty, Leicester City have lost their head!"

"What a response from Fulham after their drab loss against West Ham, Emile Smith Rowe in particular looks to be enjoying himself".

Raul Jimenez took the penalty and though the goalkeeper dived the right way, his shot was towards the corner as it snuggled inside the post still.

In less than 20 minutes after going behind, the game was turned on its head as Fulham equalized and were now leading.

Leicester City tried to regain control of this game but they could not as in the 33rd minute, Emile Smith Rowe scored a wonder goal, curling a shot from outside the box into the top right corner of the net.

1-3 to Fulham in the 33rd minute, Leicester City was cooked.

The first half ended 1-3.

Second half was much more boring than the first as Fulham defended their lead. The game eventually ended 1-3 to Fulham.

Even if it was just for a moment, they relished it.

They were back to winning ways.