Rise of a Football God

5th December, 2024…

The atmosphere in Craven Cottage was electric.

Afterall, Fulham's main rival of the new premier league season, Liverpool challenging at the top of the table already met a roadblock in the form of Newcastle.

With Liverpool dropping points against Newcastle United, Fulham got an opportunity to go 2 points clear at the top of the premier league table.

In previous years and seasons, going clear at the top of the premier league table, these were phrases and terms that sounded alien to Fulham fans but fast forward to now, and they still couldn't believe that they were using these terms to now describe their club.

To Fulham fans, the 2024/2025 premier league season felt like a season of fantasy football, sometimes they still couldn't believe how good their team was playing against elite opposition.

This was why this evening, the atmosphere in Craven Cottage was at a fever pitch, drowning the tiny voice of the away supporters.

The home supporters were determined to go to war with their players and support them with their loud noise unrelenting from the very beginning this game. The loud noise made it seem like a derby game.

Without a doubt, the Brighton players felt a bit intimidated.

Last season, Brighton, Aston Villa, and Newcastle United were mid-table teams of the English premier league that truly proved their credentials as top challengers, dethroning other teams ahead of them and climbing high through the premier league table rankings.

Aston Villa even managed to sneak into the top 4 spot.

This season though, these 3 premier league clubs were finding it increasingly harder to maintain their challenge for a top 4 spot in the table.

And now, Brighton had to take on the high-flying Fulham away from home.

Besides, they no longer had their revolutionary coach in Roberto De Zerbi since the Italian made the switch to France. This reduced their chances even more.

Before the game even started in Craven Cottage, Fulham already won the psychological battle.

Like expected, both teams started with their strongest starting XI.

Like usual, it was Bernd Leno starting in between the posts and the defensive quadruple of Castagne, Diop, Calvin Bassey, and Robinson stood in front of him. The midfield duo comprised of Alex Iwobi and Berge.

Ahead of them, the 4-man attack comprised of Muniz leading the line as the striker, while supporting behind him were the trio of Emile Smith Rowe, Sam, and Reiss Nelson.

It was a strong team but the Brighton team could not be scoffed at either.

With the likes of Joao Pedro, Kaoru Mitoma, Estupinian, Adingra, and Lewis Dunk all starting in a 3-4-2-1 formation, this was a fearsome Brighton side.

FWEEEE!

Once the referee's whistle sounded to kickstart play though, not all the Brighton players showed up as the psychological inferiority made them play well below their normal standards at the beginning phase of this game.

While Brighton fumbled, Fulham was at its imperious best.

Just 4 minutes into this game, having made a late run from deep in his half, Alex Iwobi controlled a pass from Emile Smith Rowe, set himself up before unleashing a grounded shot into the bottom left corner.

His shot beat the goalkeeper.

"GOALLLL…!" An electric Craven Cottage exploded.

The fans in white, black, and red were in a world of ecstasy.

Alex Iwobi pumped a fist in celebration even as his teammates swarmed him, celebrating with him.

That early goal was the catalyst to a lot of Brighton misery this game.

After that goal, Brighton withered like the leaf of a century-old tree, letting Fulham completely dictate and dominate this game.

The whole Fulham forward line was having an amazing game, riding the energy being made by the loud home fans as they rewarded the fans' passion with amazingly sweet football.

For the rest of the first half, having withered already, Brighton mostly defended, weathering wave after wave of furious Fulham attacks.

Fulham were creating a lot of chances, and at the center of the chance creations was a familiar name, Samuel Moses. Find exclusive stories on empire

"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"

The Same chants broke out again around Craven Cottage.

Sam was having an amazing game, feeling his mojo as he dictated the tempo, slowing the game down or accelerating it as the situation demanded to help his team. He played like a midfield maestro today, a veteran controller.

In the end, despite the numerous chances that Fulham got, a dogged defensive masterclass from Brighton for the rest of the first half managed to keep them at bay.

The first half ended 1-0 in Fulham's favor.

During halftime, Coach Marco Silva's speech was very short as he simply told his players to go out there and enjoy their football.

When second half started, the Fulham players did just that.

They continued their domination, running Brighton ragged till a moment of magic stunned Fulham hearts across this massive stadium in the 56th minute of the game. It was completely unexpected, no one saw it coming.

Against the run of play, in the 56th minute of the game, Quomah Baleba, the Brighton midfielder got on the end of a cross inside the Fulham 18-yard box.

No one saw it coming as this midfielder volleyed the ball into the net, beating Bernd Leno at his near post.

"…!" Craven Cottage was silenced as the midfielder celebrated passionately.

His overzealous celebration riled up the Fulham fans, and then…

"BOOOOO…!!!"

Loud boos drowned out the passionate celebration of the Brighton player, the home fans were incensed and their anger soon seeped into their players after the game restarted.

As the game continued, the whole Fulham team improved their gameplay even more, increasing the domination over Brighton.

They tortured the away team for long stretches of this game.

Brighton defended valiantly but, in the end, the pressure was too much as it got to the Brighton players. The 3rd goal of this game was an own goal, and it came from O'Riley as this player attempting to clear the ball, only ended up poking it inside his net.

It was an unfortunate goal for Brighton but heaven for Fulham!

"GOALLL…!!!"

While O'Riley reacted in dejection, Craven Cottage exploded again, roaring in loud cheers as their team went ahead again.

That goal came in the 79th minute of this game.

After almost 80 minutes of holding the in-form team, Brighton finally fumbled and Fulham was not happy with just that.

8 minutes later, in the 87th minute of this game, Alex Iwobi added the final nail to the coffin as he latched on to a free-floating ball from a corner, heading it past the Brighton goalkeeper and into the net.

87 minutes, 3-1 to Fulham.

Immediately after the goal, Coach Marco Silva subbed Sam out of the game to rest his star player.

Sam never had to invoke his mamba spirit to win this game, Fulham dominated throughout and he simply got to enjoy himself.

Despite the fact Sam was out, the game was already over, there was nothing Brighton could do. In Sam's absence, his teammates saw the victory out.

And with it, another impressive victory for the season was added to Fulham's memorabilia for the 2024/2025 season. They were truly high-flying.

Having scored 2 goals and played a big role in the own goal by Brighton, Alex Iwobi managed to scoop home the man of the match award for this game.

With the victory, Fulham moved 2 points clear at the top of the premier league table.