Rise of a Football God

(Premier league:)

(Everton – Fulham)

(Date: 26th October, 2024)

Both teams started with their strongest lineups, it was predicted to be a tough away game for Fulham after their blunder at home last time out.

For Everton, Jordan Pickford started in between the posts with a defensive quadruple of Young, Tarkowski, Keane, and Mykolenko ahead of him. The midfield duo sitting on top of the defense comprised of Idrissa Gueye and Doucoure.

Calvert-Lewin started as the striker, while behind him was the trio of Harrison, McNeil, and Ndiaye.

As for Fulham, it was Raul Jimenez again starting as the striker with Alex Iwobi, Sam, and Emile Smith Rowe starting behind him.

Berge and Pereira started as the midfield duo, while their 4-man defense comprised of a familiar lineup of Robinson, Calvin Bassey, Diop, and Tete. Bernd Leno started in between the posts.

Both teams started with their favored 4-2-3-1 formation.

FWEEEE!

When the referee's whistle sounded, it was an even game at first during the first few minutes of this game till Fulham slowly started taking control.

Since Sam was not forced into a more defensive role in this game, he had all the leverage in the world to do what he did best, create and Everton was made to suffer for his brilliance.

All across the first half, Sam played with flair and elegance, showcasing his silky dribbling skills and accurate passing abilities.

He had a 100% passing accuracy in the first half, never misplacing a pass as he pinged the ball left, right, and center, repeatedly cutting through the Everton defense like a hot knife through butter.

Up top, Raul Jimenez was having an amazing game as he was supplied by Sam regularly. Pickford's amazing performance was the only thing currently keeping his name from the scoresheet.

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At times, Everton also had their moments buoyed by the loud noise being made by their fans as they threatened.

Despite Fulham's domination towards the later part of this first half though, somehow, the score line remained blank till the referee's whistle sounded, signaling half-time.

It was a wonder how this game was still 0-0 considering that it was so open-ended, both teams seemed like they could score any moment.

During halftime, Coach Marco Silva didn't say too much to his players, simply telling them to keep a level head, to not make reckless mistakes on the pitch and to simply enjoy their football.

When second half started, that was exactly what the Fulham players did, enjoy themselves and it bore result in very little time.

Everton tried to threaten but once Fulham settled, they resumed their domination of this game and 15 minutes after the restart, the game opened up.

After some incredible hold-up play by Raul Jimenez in the Everton box, this striker set up his winger as Alex Iwobi ran in, taking the ball in his strides before Tarkowski could intercept it before simply poking it into the bottom corner.

Jordan Pickford reacted but there was very little that he could do at such close range, Jimenez's pass was just perfect.

In the 61st minute, Fulham finally broke the deadlock, going ahead 0-1.

And that, was a mistake on Everton's part because as soon as the first goal entered, the floodgates were opened.

Just 3 minutes after the first goal, in the 64th minute, Sam played another unreal defense-splitting pass, setting up Raul Jimenez again and this time, the Fulham striker did not miss his mark.

Taking one touch to control the box, Jimenez unleashed a venomous shot towards the bottom right corner. The ball just missed Pickford's outstretched arms.

0-2 to Fulham.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Fulham players already found their mojo, they were in their zone already as their domination continued.

Everton tried to come back into this came but with Berge breaking up the line, intercepting passes and acting as the destroyer, he protected his defense, ensuring that Fulham always remained in the game.

He left the rest for the more offensive players, and they showed their ability again and this time, Sam got his name on the scoresheet.

This time, it was an outrageous knuckle ball from him from outside the box.

What made it even more impressive was the fact that it was not just a knuckle ball shot, Sam hit it on a volley after a weak clearance from Everton.

"Zinedine Sam at it again!" The commentator raved.

"Is there a game where the young Nigerian doesn't show up?"

"Every game, I'm telling you, he's there. Even in bad Fulham games, in the good ones too, he's the one constant that keeps on performing every game".

"What a monster!"

Sam was not satisfied with just that yet though, he did more.

This time, he was the one who started the play, going on a mazy run as he dribbled through players like they were not there and just as he was about to be tripped, he passed the ball to Emile Smith Rowe who started on the right wing.

He was tripped but having passed the ball already, Sam quickly sprang back up to his feet, charging into the 18-yard box again just in time for Smith Rowe to float a pass in.

Rising above all the Everton players, Sam planted a power header towards goal. Jordan Pickford got his hand to it, but the power behind the ball was too much, it snuck past his grasp and into the net.

"The monster strikes again!"

"That's 2 goals and 1 assist to Sam now, what a player!"

"It's 0-4 to Fulham, they're having a blast!"

But again, Sam was not satisfied with just that. At some point, Muniz already replaced Raul Jimenez in the team.

And this time, after going on another mazy dribble that saw him use almost all the silky weapons in his arsenal, weaving through players like they were not there, he played a perfect pass, slicing the defense open and setting up Muniz; the striker unleashed a perfect shot.

BAM!

One touch, one goal.

Muniz scored with his first touch of the game, and with it, Sam also got his 2nd assist of this game, taking his overall goal contributions to 4!

It was an absolute hammering for Everton, they were humiliated by the rampant Fulham in front of their home fans.

Everton got a consolation goal late after 90 minutes but it meant very little.

When the whistle eventually sounded, the Everton players heaved a huge sigh of relief since they were finally vindicated from the embarrassment.

Sam won another man of the match award; he was on a streak.

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