Rise of a Football God

Sitting on the bench, Sam watched as his teammates lined up against some of the best players in the world.

The feeling in his chest was not the best, but he stayed calm.

'I already did all I could, now is to wait for the repercussions of my actions'.

Since standing up to his coach after the training session, he never came any closer to making Marco Silva's starting XI lineup. And not just that, these days, the coach barely looked him in the eye and that did not bode well to his career.

Sam just hoped it was not too bad to be salvaged yet.

Today, Craven Cottage was filled to the brim with almost 30,000 fans.

Just like Sam, the enthusiastic Fulham FC fans knew that the Carabao Cup was their only true chance of breaking their silverware drought if they were to win one this season, that was why they came out in droves to support their team.

The noise around the stadium was defending as the fans in black and white sang their team on, boosting them with endless energy, and finally, the game started with the referee's signal.

FWEEEE!

After the coin toss, Liverpool FC were to start the game from kickoff.

As soon as the referee's whistle sounded, Liverpool FC passed the ball, commencing play as the Fulham FC players charged aggressively after the ball.

It was clear today that the Fulham players were filled with a lot of energy.

Buoyed by the loud noise made by the fans, the Fulham players pressed with relentless energy, eventually stealing the ball back and immediately, a quick-fire Fulham attack started.

Pereira was the one who won the ball back deep in the Liverpool half and immediately, he passed to Willian who was running down the left wing.

Taking the ball in his strides, the pacey Fulham winger hit the ball down the wing before chasing after it at full speed, running past the young Liverpool academy graduate, Conor Bradley.

Bradley recovered quickly though, not letting Willian dribble through but the Fulham winger thought on his feet, quickly dragging the ball back before playing a raking pass into the middle for Pereira to run into.

Immediately, the Liverpool defense scrambled to defend, Quansah especially charging towards the opposition attacking midfielder.

Pereira didn't shoot the ball though, instead, he jumped over it, leaving it to his teammate who shadowed his run from the right-hand side of the field.

De Codova-Reid was the one who shadowed Pereira's run.

"…!"

For a moment, the Liverpool defense panicked as space opened up on their defense and Cordova-Reid didn't hesitate, hitting the ball first time, an accurate whipped low shot towards goal.

It was an impressive shot but Kelleher, the Liverpool goalkeeper was alert as he dived, pushing the ball out for a corner to make the first save of the day.

The noise in this stadium rose to a crescendo, acknowledging the play as the energetic Fulham fans went behind their team.

When the corner was taken though, Darwin Nunez rose above everyone else, heading the ball away to safety.

And after that Fulham quick attack, Liverpool FC finally settled into the game.

For the first few minutes, Fulham FC had the better chances but the Liverpool defense cleverly shot them out. The Liverpool attack was also active as the trio of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, and Cody Gakpo worried.

And the more time went on, the more they grew into the game.

With Alexis Mac Allister dictating the game from midfield, it was only a matter of time before Liverpool took control of this game.

And ironically, they didn't need to take control yet before they got a result.

The Fulham energy was still high up until the 11th minute when they came crashing down from their high throne, receiving a reality check.

Receiving the ball in the left wing, Luis Diaz created the first miracle moment of this game as he exploded immediately, going on a mazy run.

Using his quick feet to wriggle and skip past challenges, he burst into the Fulham 18-yard box and as the energetic Fulham players swarmed him, he used a simple ball flick to escape the confinement, creating space for himself.

"Oh…! What a flick! The Colombian is in the mood!"

"Will he shoot?!"

"Yes he does!"

"Oh myyyyy! What a GOALLLL!"

Immediately after Luis Diaz created space for himself, without even taking a look, this winger wrapped the inside of his right boot around the ball, curling in a perfect shot towards goal that left Leno going on a full-stretch dive.

The Fulham goalkeeper's hand barely missed the ball, allowing it to nestle into the net as Liverpool scored the first goal of the night.

The Colombian winger immediately charged towards the corner flag, pumping his fists excitedly while kissing the Liverpool badge in celebration.

In response, the Fulham fans drowned him in a chorus of boos.

"BOOO…!"

The commentator laughed. "The fans are angry but Luis Diaz doesn't care, all he cares about is his goal".

"That goal definitely has a lot of repercussions for this game".

"With that goal, Fulham now trail Liverpool with 2 goals. Unless somehow, they magically score 2 goals without conceding another, they're packing their bags home from the Carabao Cup".

"And honestly, I don't see those 2 goals coming, Liverpool is just starting".

It was brutal but it was reality.

The commentator was right, Liverpool FC was just starting.

After that goal, Liverpool FC took over control of the game in a stranglehold. The whole team as a whole switched on, finally reporting to work.

The Fulham FC players ran themselves to the ground, trying to regain their rhythm but Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister did not let it.
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The midfielder and winger combined repeatedly, breaking down the Fulham defense like a hot knife through butter as they created attack after attack.

They dominated Fulham FC despite the loud noise being made by their fans.

Behind them, their defense was rock solid.

That first attack was the only time Willian got the better of the young Conor Bradley as led by Virgil Van Dijk, the Liverpool captain, the whole team defended superbly, shutting off all Fulham attacks.

Liverpool FC played admirably, dominating Fulham. Perhaps the only blemish to their 1st half display was the fact that they didn't score the 2nd goal to extend their lead.

The game went to halftime with Liverpool leading 0-1 in Craven Cottage.