Rise of a Football God

The second half started.

The S factor, what is it?

In this sense, the S factor was different from the X factor. In recent weeks, Fulham fans coined a term to describe the partnership between their 2 maverick midfielders and hence the term, the S factor.

It was a term describing the deadly duo of Sam and Smith.

Since the term was first coined, it was already becoming extremely popular not just among Fulham fans but across the English premier league.
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There was hardly any premier league fan that had not heard of the S factor partnership this season, the Sam and Smith factor.

It was a term now reminiscing of legendary partnerships in football, like the legendary Bayern Munich Robbery duo of Arjen Roben and Franck Ribery, or even the legendary MSN, the unstoppable Messi, Suarez, and Neymar triumvate.

It was clear to any sane football fan that the S factor was yet to reach the levels of any of the 2 aforementioned legendary partnerships in football but still, the S factor partnership had similar impact for Fulham as these legendary partnerships had for their clubs in the past.

The duo of Sam and Smith was just unstoppable.

After the start of the second half, from an even game that it was in the first half, the Fulham players finally took control in the second in front of their home fans, stealing all initiative from a determined Arsenal team.

In a clash between 2 determined individuals, one conviction and drive always have to give way in the end and it was what happened between these 2 in-form teams.

Arsenal's conviction gave way to Fulham's as the West London club dominated.

Sam and Smith used their combination plays to tear the Arsenal defense down time and time again, the only reason why the 2nd goal for Fulham was yet to materialize was chiefly due to a single player, a Frenchman, William Saliba.

While the rest of the Arsenal defense struggled to keep up with the electric duo, only William Saliba continued playing at an elite level.

Singlehandedly, the imperious French defender kept his team in the game but not satisfied with just defending, in the 52nd minute of this game, this imperious defender decided to send a dagger straight through Fulham fans across the world.

In the 52nd minute of the game, against the run of play, Arsenal finally equalized and it was from an unlikely player, William Saliba himself.

This season, Arsenal have been dangerous while playing from the corner, evident by their 2 goals from corner kicks with which they destroyed Manchester United just a few weeks earlier.

Today again, this London club struck again from a corner kick as after a scramble in the 18-yard box, the ball landed perfectly for William Saliba to poke in from close range.

"GOALLLLL…!" The mostly silenced away stand for most of this game erupted at this moment, screaming all their frustrations in this first half away as they jubilated.

William Saliba didn't miss the passion of the traveling Arsenal supporters though as dodging his teammates, he faced the fans before raising his arms to rile up the Fulham supporters while bolstering the morale of the Arsenal fans.

"Come on!" The imposing Frenchman screamed.

It was no news in the premier league that William Saliba had a voice that didn't fit his imposing frame and dominating playstyle, but still, at this moment, this roar just after his goal added an extra flavor of spice and chill to this game.

The stakes were raised even higher!

FWEEEEE!

When the referee's whistle sounded again to restart play, Arsenal tried to ride that momentum and continue in search of the 2nd goal to win this game but they could only keep it up for a few minutes.

In just a few minutes, the S factor struck again.

Sam did the dirty work, winning back the ball and laying it to Emile Smith Rowe and once the Englishman managed to slow the game's tempo down a bit, he passed back to Sam as both players resumed their unstoppable S factor partnership.

With them passing around, Fulham regained contro.

Instantly, all the Arsenal momentum dropped back to square zero.

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard kept on disturbing, knocking on Fulham's door but their London rivals never let up, defending valiantly.

With the defense being imperious this game, they gave Sam and Emile Smith Rowe the perfect platform to thrive upfront and dish the Arsenal defense misery.

As the game wore on, the partnership only became deadlier.

In the 68th minute of this game, Fulham finally got their closest chance as after receiving a pass from Emile Smith Rowe, Sam skipped past an opposition player, shuffling the ball to his weaker left foot before taking a shot.

POW!

It was a powerful shot but Fulham fans around Craven Cottage gasped, left to rue their luck as they watched the ball beat David Raya only to hit and ricochet off the crossbar back into play.

"Damn! The goalkeeper has the post to thank for that!"

"What a goal that would have been!"

"That's Fulham's best chance to score again in this game!"

The commentator was right, that was Fulham's best chance as Sam also clutched his head in disbelief.

In the end, the game continued.

The S factor partnership continued while William Saliba remained William Saliba, always at hand to thwart them to the best of his ability every single time.

This game, the Frenchman was just imperious.

Arsenal also had their moments but none of them was as close as Sam's earlier effort. In the 82nd minute of the game, Emile Smith Rowe was tripped just outside the Arsenal 18-yard box as the referee awarded a freekick to Fulham.

Walking up to the ball, Sam contemplated using his ability card but he decided against it, eager to test his own freekick ability.

Another reason why he did was because Sam felt that it was not yet necessary.

'We're currently at the top of the league, we're high-flying, it's not necessary now'.

'But the situation may change anytime. When we're desperately in need of it, trailing from our ultimate goal, in desperate situations is when I should use it'.

With that, he made his decision.

After taking a deep breath, Sam took one last glance at goal and did an angled run towards the ball, then…

BAM!

He struck the ball perfectly with the inside of his right boot, curling it high and around the defensive block.

David Raya went on a full-stretch dive.

"…!" Craven Cottage was silenced.

With bated breaths, the home supporters watched as the ball beat the Arsenal goalie, moving towards goal.

Thousands of Fulham fans rose up to their feet, raising their arms, about to celebrate only for the ball to swerve slightly and then…

Bam!

The ball hit the crossbar, ricocheting outside for a corner kick.

"F*ck!" Sam cursed in disbelief.

He was not the only one who felt that way. Literally every fan supporting the white, black, and red cause tonight felt the same way as they watched in disbelief.

Even the commentator could not believe what he just saw as he raved, expressing his wonder about how on earth that was not a goal?

Definitely, the gods were pitying Arsenal this game.

In the end, it was a slightly dangerous corner kick which resulted in no goal.

After a few more minutes of this end-to-end game, the referee's whistle finally sounded, bringing the game to an end.

The game ended 1-1, a draw.

All in all, it was a pulsating encounter and for his valiant performance at the heart of the Arsenal defense, William Saliba won the man of the match award for this game, dethroning the electric duo of Sam and Smith.