Rise of a Football God

The build-up to this game was not as tense as most neutral fans expected.

As the Nottingham Forest players stepped foot into Craven Cottage, expecting a hostile reception from the home supporters, to their surprise, the atmosphere in this stadium was more light-hearted than they expected.

The atmosphere in Craven Cottage was surprisingly harmonious.

This was because of the presence of 1 specific player who was finally back to the Fulham lineup, Samuel Moses.

Most football fans become toxic and hostile when they sense that their team are the underdogs in any given match. In recent weeks, Fulham fans became extremely hostile at home but now, it lessened.

This was because with Sam's presence back in the Fulham starting XI, the home supporters were suddenly confident in their team returning to winning ways.

Their confidence was so nonchalant that it just seemed illogical.

The Fulham players didn't care about that though. They would ride on this confident wave that was already started by their fans.

Like expected, both teams started with their strongest lineups.

With both starting in their regular 4-2-3-1 formation, for Fulham, Bernd Leno naturally started in between the posts with the quadruple of Antonee Robinson, Diop, Calvin Bassey, and Castagne ahead of him.

The 2-man midfield comprised of Lukic and Adreas Pereira, while the 3-man offense further upfront comprised of Alex Iwobi, Sam, and Emile Smith Rowe.

Raul Jimenez returned to the starting XI as the striker.

For Nottingham Forest, utilizing the same formation as Fulham, Wood started as the striker while the 4-man offense behind him comprised of Sosa, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Anthony Elanga, the former Manchester United winger.

The midfield duo was Anderson and Dominguez, while the 4-man defense comprised Williams, Morato, Milenkovic, and the Nigerian international, Ola Aina.

Sels started in between the posts for the visitors.

Even before the first whistle of this game sounded by the referee, it was already clear that Fulham had a psychological advantage over their opponents this game and it became prominent after the whistle.

FWEEE!

From the first whistle, Fulham dominated this game.

Buoyed by the loud noise that was being made by their fans after the game started, the Fulham players pressed their opponents with impunity, coming close to scoring the first goal multiple time in the first few minutes.

Nottingham Forest's impressive 4-man defense was the only reason why a goal was yet to recorded this game, but that defensive record did not stand the test of time forever.

In the 38th minute, Fulham's relentless pressure finally tore the game apart and it came from an unexpected Fulham player.

With Nottingham Forest defending so deep, it was hard for the Fulham attackers to penetrate through them and so Lukic tried something wild.

Receiving the ball outside the box, the Nottingham Forest players refrained from pressing him simply because they didn't rate his threat from outside the box. This midfielder made them regret their decision.

BAM!

Setting himself up, Lukic launched a long-range pile driver that travelled with ferocious speed, tearing into the left side of the net.

Sels, Nottingham Forest's goalkeeper was rooted to the spot.

"GOALLLL…!!!" Craven Cottage exploded to life after that goal.

That goal definitely rattled nerves as Nottingham Forest's defending after that became a bit looser. For the next few minutes that followed, Fulham came close to doubling their lead in the first half without any tangible result till a corner kick in the 46th minute of this game.

Emile Smith Rowe floated a perfect corner kick in, paving the way as Calvin Bassey rose highest in the Nottingham Forest box, powering a header towards goal.

The ball was goal bound, but then…

Clang!

"Ohhhh! What quick reflexes by Sels!"

The Nottingham Forest pulled off a crazy reactionary save, pushing the ball as it clanged against his right post, rebounding back into the box.

Before the goalkeeper could pick himself off from the ground after such an impressive save, to his despair, and Eagle-eyed Raul Jimenez already pounced, arriving first to poke the ball into his net.

He was bundled down in the process by an overzealous Morato challenge but with the ball already inside the enemy net, Raul Jimenez stood up, ignoring his pain as he charged to the corner flag to celebrate the goal.

The atmosphere around Craven Cottage was electric as they celebrated the goal. The fans were having the best time of their life in recent weeks.

The first half came to an end with Fulham leading 2-0 at home.

During half-time though, Raul Jimenez was replaced. Apparently, Morato's challenge left him in more pain than initially expected.

Muniz represented Jimenez and this striker's threat in the Nottingham Forest 18-yard box was no less different.

In the 57th minute of this game, Sam finally joined the party as he raised a perfect lobbed pass over the Nottingham Forest defense, setting up Muniz to score from a header.

In the 60th minute, Emile Smith Rowe crossed another ball into the 18-yard box, this time setting up Alex Iwobi who scored Fulham's 4th goal of this game.

3 of Fulham's 4 goals today were scored from headers.

After the 4th goal in the 60th minute, Coach Marco Silva finally pulled the plug, resting a few of his more important players, including Sam and giving others the opportunity to shine.

In the 82nd minute, Nottingham Forest eventually scored through an Anthony Elanga solo goal, but it ended up being only a consolation goal.

The game ended 4-1 in Fulham's favor.

And just like that, they bagged 3 more points even as Emile Smith Rowe won the man of the match award for this game.

A few hours later, matchday 25 of the premier league finally came to an end.

(Premier league:)

(Matchday 25 of 38:)

(Brighton 2-0 Chelsea)

(Date: 14th February, 2025)

…

(Leicester City 1-3 Arsenal)

(Date: 15th February, 2025)

…

(West Ham 3-2 Brentford)

(Date: 15th February, 2025)

…

(Southampton 0-0 Bournemouth)

(Date: 15th February, 2025)

…

(Aston Villa 2-1 Ipswich Town)

(Date: 15th February, 2025)

…

(Man City 1-0 Newcastle)

(Date: 15th February, 2025)

… Read latest stories on empire

(Fulham 4-1 Nottm Forest)

(Date: 15th February, 2025)

…

(Crystal Palace 2-0 Everton)

(Date: 15th February, 2025)

…

(Liverpool 3-0 Wolves)

(Date: 16th February, 2025)

…

(Tottenham 2-2 Man United)

(Date: 16th February, 2025)

…

(Updated premier league table standings:)

(1. Liverpool GP: 25/ W:20/ D:2/ L:2/ Pts: 66)

(2. Fulham GP: 25/ W:17/ D:5/ L:3/ Pts: 57)

(3. Arsenal GP: 25/ W:16/ D:7/ L:2/ Pts: 55)

(4. Chelsea GP: 25/ W:16/ D:6/ L:3/ Pts: 54)

(5. Aston Villa GP: 25/ W:12/ D:6/ L:8/ Pts: 42)

(6. Nottm Forest GP: 25/ W:11/ D:8/ L:6/ Pts: 41)

(7. Brighton GP: 25/ W:11/ D:7/ L:7/ Pts: 40)

(8. Man City GP: 25/ W:11/ D:6/ L:8/ Pts: 39)

(9. Tottenham GP: 25/ W:11/ D:4/ L:10/ Pts: 37)

(10. Newcastle GP: 25/ W:9/ D:8/ L:8/ Pts: 35)

(11. Bournemouth GP: 25/ W:9/ D:6/ L:10/ Pts: 33)

(12. Brentford GP: 25/ W:9/ D:5/ L:11/ Pts: 32)

(13. Man United GP: 25/ W:9/ D:5/ L:11/ Pts: 32)

(14. West Ham GP: 25/ W:8/ D:6/ L:11/ Pts: 29)

(15. Crystal Palace GP: 25/ W:6/ D:9/ L:10/ Pts: 27)

(16. Leicester GP: 25/ W:3/ D:8/ L:14/ Pts: 17)

(17. Everton GP: 25/ W:4/ D:5/ L:16/ Pts: 17)

(18. Ipswich Town GP: 25/ W:3/ D:8/ L:14/ Pts: 17)

(19. Southampton GP: 25/ W:3/ D:3/ L:19/ Pts: 12)

(20. Wolves GP: 25/ W:1/ D:6/ L:18/ Pts: 9)