Rise of a Football God

What is a derby?

A derby is commonly known as a match between two local clubs that are geographically close to each other, for example teams that are from the same city or from the same part of the country.

Then London derbies, what are they?

London derbies are clashes between football clubs based in London.

Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur and Millwall against West Ham United are ranked as two of the most ferocious London derbies.

As for Fulham, personally, they contest West London derby rivalries with Brentford, Chelsea, and Queens Park Rangers.

And considering that Fulham is the oldest professional football club, its fans attribute a lot more meaning to derby games.

Fulham may not be the strongest team, and their rivalry with Tottenham may not be the fiercest, but their fans were extremely passionate.

And the rest was done by the media, fanning the flames of 2 in-form teams in the premier league both based in London clashing at the top.

Due to all these reasons and more, the build-up to the game in the Tottenham Hotspur stadium was filled with a lot of banter, boasting, and drama.

And when the D-day eventually came, the atmosphere in the Tottenham Hotspur stadium was electric as the fans gave a hostile welcome to their rivals.

Like expected, both teams started with their strongest lineups. Enjoy exclusive content from empire

Forster started in between the posts for Tottenham, and the 4-man defense protecting him comprised of Porro, Dragusin, Davies, and Udogie.

The 3-man midfield comprised of Sarr, Bissouma, and James Maddison, while the 3-man attack started with the trio of Brennan Johnson, Heung Min Son, and Timo Werner, the German attacker.

Tottenham started with their trademark 4-3-3 attacking formation under Ange Postecoglou, their manager.

As for Fulham, Coach Marco Silva approached the game with his usual 4-2-3-1 formation with Raul Jimenez starting again as the striker.

Behind the striker was the trio of Sam, Emile Smith Rowe, and Alex Iwobi, while behind them stood the duo of Berge and Lukic in midfield. The defense contained the regular quadruple of Robinson, Bassey, Diop, and Tete.

And of course, Bernd Leno started in between the posts.

It was poised to be an exciting game.

FWEEEE!

As soon as the referee's whistle sounded to kick off the game, Tottenham immediately exploded, starting this game on the front foot.

Just like the game Fulham played against Manchester City in the premier league, it was a high-octane game with high energy from the opposing forwards of both sides, the only thing lacking being the goals.

Heung Min Son, the Korean forward had an amazing game in the first half as he continually tortured the Fulham backline to no avail.

There was still no goal to show for his efforts.

On the opposing side, Sam did the same as again, Raul Jimenez did an amazing job upfront, troubling the Tottenham backline also.

With Sam feeding him, Raul Jimenez was having another amazing game.

Throughout the first half, the home fans had their hearts on their throats due to the intense exchange between both teams in this half.

But then, despite the game's intensity, it surprisingly ended 0-0 by halftime.

During halftime, Coach Marco Silva had a little team talk with his players, urging them to up the tempo even more and beat Tottenham at their own game.

This kind of game plan was incredibly exhausting to players but due to the grueling training that his players put themselves through in recent times, it was easier for them now to play such an intense game without gassing out before their opponents.

When second half started, Fulham did just that.

And it was a familiar face that led the press.

Sam flexed his incredible stamina again, running all around the pitch and intercepting balls as he imposed his presence on the pitch.

But then, despite Sam's display, Tottenham were not playing bad either as in front of their home fans, they soon got a reward for their efforts from a stunning Brennan Johnson strike.

After going on a mazy run down the right-hand side of the pitch, the winger turned Robinson inside out before cutting in and curling a shot towards goal.

The shot beat Bernd Leno, going beyond his reach and into the net.

In the 59th minute of the game, the deadlock was finally broken and it was Tottenham who went in the lead.

That goal stunned Fulham but they did not give up, upping their tempo even more. With Sam leading the proceedings still, Fulham's incredible tempo finally caught Tottenham off-guard as Sam set up Cairney, his captain.

Set up one-on-one with the Tottenham goalkeeper, the Fulham veteran did not fumble as he toyed with the goalkeeper, going around him before hitting the ball into an empty net.

Cairney celebrated his goal wildly, running towards the corner flag and sliding on his knees in celebration.

After that goal, the game became even tighter as both sides struggled to create clear-cut chances.

Fulham kept on trying till the 83rd minute when disaster struck.

Cairney got a red card after a reckless tackle on a Tottenham player. The intensity of this game was so high that he couldn't restrain himself.

Again, in another game in the English premier league, Fulham were forced to play with 10 men. It was becoming a trend, a prelude to disaster.

The last time against Aston Villa, Fulham capitulated after going 1-man down as Aston Villa tore them apart. This time though, having learned from their past mistakes, they refused to give up.

Sam stayed fighting, and so Fulham stayed fighting.

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

The mantra was already chanting in his head.

With one man down did he play even more, proving a threat with every touch of the ball that he had, every movement, every pass.

This time, against all odds against a team of Tottenham's caliber, Sam's mamba mentality got him the result that he sought after.

There was little time remaining after Cairney got the red card, but undeterred, Sam did what he did best and it bore fruit.

It happened in the 89th minute.

After another mazy run from deep in his half, Sam was tripped in the Tottenham box after an aggressive tackle.

The player only got a yellow card for it but Fulham got a penalty.

"Come on!" Sam screamed like he just won the lottery.

At this point, he would take anything just to win.

The atmosphere in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium instantly became hostile as the home fans drowned them in boos, but Sam did not pay attention to them.

Between Raul Jimenez and Muniz, any of the 2 strikers that started in any game was the designated penalty taker.

Today though, having won the penalty and having seen how he was playing, Muniz decided to leave the penalty to Sam. This was the first time that Sam was about to take a penalty in a professional football game.

"Are you sure man?" He looked at Muniz.

The striker patted him on the back. "I trust you, do it".

That was all Sam needed.

Placing the ball down and taking a few steps back, he looked at the goalkeeper who was doing all he could to taunt and get into his head.

Noting his antics, Sam smirked and then he did an angled run towards the ball, then…

BAM!

He whipped a powerful shot towards the top left corner of the net.

The goalkeeper dived but he was never getting there, the power and accuracy behind that shot was just too much.

"GOAL!" The commentator exclaimed.

"A goal and an assist to Sam in another game!"

"The boy wonder has done it again, this time in Tottenham's backyard. Samuel Moses is just incredible!"

Fulham won the game 1-2.

It was a hard-fought victory.