Rise of a Football God

(Premier league:)

(Matchday 31 of 38:)

(Aston Villa 1-2 Nottm Forest)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

…

(Ipswich Town 0-0 Wolves)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

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(Leicester City 1-4 Newcastle)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

…

(Tottenham 2-0 Southampton)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

…

(Man United 1-3 Man City)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

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(Brentford 2-2 Chelsea)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

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(Crystal Palace 1-0 Brighton)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

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(Everton 0-2 Arsenal)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

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(Fulham 3-2 Liverpool)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

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(West Ham 1-1 Bournemouth)

(Date: 5th April, 2025)

…

(Updated premier league table standings:)

(1. Liverpool GP: 31/ W:24/ D:1/ L:3/ Pts: 79)

(2. Fulham GP: 31/ W:23/ D:5/ L:3/ Pts: 75)

(3. Chelsea GP: 31/ W:19/ D:9/ L:3/ Pts: 66)

(4. Arsenal GP: 31/ W:19/ D:8/ L:4/ Pts: 65)

(5. Nottm Forest GP: 31/ W:14/ D:9/ L:8/ Pts: 51)

(6. Man City GP: 31/ W:14/ D:8/ L:9/ Pts: 50)

(7. Tottenham GP: 31/ W:15/ D:4/ L:12/ Pts: 49)

(8. Aston Villa GP: 31/ W:13/ D:9/ L:10/ Pts: 48)

(9. Newcastle GP: 31/ W:12/ D:9/ L:10/ Pts: 45)

(10. Brighton GP: 31/ W:12/ D:7/ L:12/ Pts: 43)

(11. Bournemouth GP: 31/ W:11/ D:9/ L:11/ Pts: 42)

(12. Man United GP: 31/ W:12/ D:5/ L:14/ Pts: 41)

(13. Brentford GP: 31/ W:10/ D:8/ L:13/ Pts: 38)

(14. Crystal Palace GP: 31/ W:9/ D:11/ L:11/ Pts: 38)

(15. West Ham GP: 31/ W:8/ D:9/ L:14/ Pts: 32)

(16. Leicester GP: 31/ W:5/ D:9/ L:17/ Pts: 24)

(17. Everton GP: 31/ W:5/ D:7/ L:19/ Pts: 22)

(18. Ipswich Town GP: 31/ W:3/ D:10/ L:18/ Pts: 19)

(19. Wolves GP: 31/ W:2/ D:10/ L:19/ Pts: 16)

(20. Southampton GP: 31/ W:3/ D:3/ L:25/ Pts: 12)

4 points…, that was the only difference separating Fulham from the top spot of the English premier league after matchday 31.

There was still 7 matchdays of the 2024/2025 premier league season remaining, a lot of time and matchdays for Fulham to play catch up.

Like a few analysts in the premier league said at the end of matchday 31 on the outcome of the blockbuster encounter between Fulham and Liverpool, it was not about the 3 points, rather, it was more on the psychological damage.

Before today, Liverpool and Fulham had both been high-flying in the premier league, seemingly invincible sides.

But with yesterday's result, Liverpool's aura of invincibility was broken.

Other premier league clubs would see it as a sign of weakness, while Fulham's imperious aura would only grow more prominent.

At the highest levels of professional football, the mental aspect was just as involved in winning as the physical aspect.

The pressure was now on Liverpool to bounce back from defeat.

It now depended on the mental resilience of the Liverpool players to see if they could rise from adversity and continue their bid for a first premier league title in years, breaking Man City's dominance at the top.

It was also up to Fulham. If Fulham added to their advantage, winning their next games in the premier league, it would affect the table toppers even more, making them more likely to stumble and make a mistake.

By now, it was already clear that the premier league title race this season was between only Liverpool and Fulham.

They were the only sides still in contention.

After the game against Liverpool, a lot of the regular starting Fulham players were all exhausted as their fatigue extended to the next few days.

Those 90 minutes against Liverpool felt like 200 minutes!

Only Sam managed to recover quickly with the help of his physical conditioning elixirs, but the rest of the Fulham team was still lethargic.

And this was one of the many ruthless realities of professional football because the schedule would not wait for you nor understand that you were fatigued, the schedule would keep on counting.

After the blockbuster encounter in Craven Cottage, Fulham's next premier league encounter was an away clash against Bournemouth.

But before that game, they had an FA Cup quarter final game to play.

(FA Cup:)

(Coventry – Fulham)

(Date: 8th April, 2025)

…

(Premier league:)

(Bournemouth – Fulham)

(Date: 12th April, 2025)

…the cruel reality of professional football.

After the Liverpool game, the Fulham players still suffered from fatigue but scheduling gave no damn about their plight because they had just 2 days of rest before their away FA cup game against Coventry.

And in another 4 days was their premier league game.

These 2 fixtures after the Liverpool game truly tested Coach Marco Silva's management skills, this coach was pushed to the limit but he improvised.

Time moved fast and it was soon D-day.

On the 8th of April, Marco Silva took a big risk, heavily rotating his team for the FA Cup game against Coventry as he rested all his big stars, including Sam. Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

Like expected, seeing this as an opportunity, Coventry played the game of their lives against Fulham on their home ground.

Playing with their regular 5-3-2 formation, the home side frustrated the Fulham players, running them ragged for most of the game.

In the 2nd half, they finally broke the deadlock, scoring the goal to go ahead in the 61st minute of the game.

On the touchline, Coach Marco Silva became touchy but this coach remained firm, not making changes till the 75th minute of this game where he was forced to introduce his star player again.

Marco Silva was unwilling, he didn't want to overwork Sam again and expose him to another injury but with the current situation, he had no choice.

His decision paid off though as just 6 minutes after entering the pitch, Sam powered a header into the net, finally breaking the Fulham drought this game.

The game remained tight even with him on the pitch as the Coventry players played the game of their lives.

With the score 1-1 by fulltime, they were forced to go to extra time.

The score remained level in the first half of extra time but in the second half, Sam pulled another moment of magic from his box of tricks, scoring from a freekick in the 114th minute to win Fulham the game.

Another day, just another Sam man of the match winning display.