Rise of a Football God

Due to the fatigue that still lingered from the Liverpool EFL Cup game, Coach Marco Silva heavily rotated his starting XI for the Newcastle United game.

Instead of Bernd Leno starting between the posts for Fulham FC, Rodak, the second-choice goalkeeper started instead.

And instead of Raul Jimenez leading the line, Muniz was given a chance to start at the head of the formation as the striker for this game.

Behind the striker, Pereira was given a rest, making way for the young Nigerian midfielder who stole all the headlines in the last game, Samuel Moses.

Beside Sam on both sides, De Cordova-Reid started on his left, replacing Willian as the left winger for this game while Wilson started as the right winger.

Palhinha was also rested for this game, giving Lukic and Reed the chance to start as the double pivot for the game.

As for the 4-man defense, it comprised of Diop and Ream in central defense, Robinson as the left back, and Tete as the right back.

Compared to the formation that started against Liverpool, it was a weaker formation on paper and considering that Newcastle United was another heavyweight of English football, most prominently in recent seasons, it was going to be a tough game.

After the take-over by Newcastle's new owner, a billionaire, despite the fact that the owner didn't splurge hundreds of millions in the transfer market like predicted, Newcastle United still experienced a big change already.

The team was now a force to be reckoned with in the English premier competition. And today, they clashed against Fulham in Craven Cottage.

With the likes of Aleksander Isak, Anthony Gordon, Bruon Guimaraes, Schar, Burn, Kieran Trippier, and Martin Dubravka all starting, it was clear that Newcastle United came with their strongest lineup and were determined to win.

Despite the fact that Fulham FC managed to pull off such a big off-set against Liverpool, Fulham was still seen as the heavy underdog for this game.

And considering the fact that Coach Marco Silva rotated so heavily, this became even more so but one specific player on the pitch didn't agree to this sentiment.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Donning the no. 11 jersey for Fulham FC, on the pitch, Sam had no other thoughts in his mind but thoughts of winning.

'I have to win, and win again, and keep on winning'.

'That's the only way to keep on improving and get to the very top'.

FWEEEE!

When the game started, Fulham FC started kickoff brightly as for the first few minutes of this game, it was a tightly-contested affair.

The Fulham FC attack was not as bland as in the Liverpool game during the early stages. With Sam at the helm of the Fulham midfield, Sam showed what he could do on a football pitch, orchestrating the play.

Since he was not in a rush this time, he was calm, rotating possession on the pitch between his teammates like a robot that could not make a single mistake.

He kept on threading dangerous passes to his teammates, rising head and shoulders above all his teammates on the pitch but his teammates could not finish the chances that he created.

And now wary of his threat, the Newcastle players marked him tightly, not giving him the chance to try outside the box shots.

It was not all Sam on the pitch though.

Of course, a tightly-contested affair meant that it went both ways. With their star players, Newcastle United imposed themselves on this game as Guimaraes and Aleksander Isak caused problems for the Fulham defense.

Despite the chances that were created by both sides, the game remained goalless until the 39th minute of the game.

After some scrappy defending from the Fulham defense, Longstaff, the Newcastle midfielder pounced on a loose ball, rifling it into the roof of the net and beyond Rodak as he scored the first goal of the game.

That goal definitely roused Fulham FC awake as they put more urgency into their play, despite this, it did not yield fruit.

The first half ended with Newcastle United leading 0-1.

When second half started, Coach Marco Silva made a single change, taking off Reed and introducing Palhinha into the game as immediately, the Fulham team became more solid and compact.

Fulham played with intent in the 2nd half, being the better team as they came close to scoring a few times but then in the 61st minute, they were stunned.

Against the run of play, Danny Burn, the Newcastle left back after an impressive overlapping run played clever interchanging passes between Aleksander Isak and from nowhere, this left back snuck the ball into the bottom left corner.

It was 0-2 to Newcastle United out of nowhere!

That goal definitely set the coals of fire burning down Fulham's ass.

And finally, the urgency got to Sam. By now, most of his teammates were already showing signs of fatigue but unwilling to give up, buoyed by Palhinha's performance since coming on, Sam led the attack, orchestrating play.

5 minutes after the second Newcastle goal, he finally did it, playing a defense-splitting through pass to Muniz.

The Fulham striker got to the ball before Martin Dubravka, and as the goalkeeper charged in, he pushed the ball forward, going around him before poking the ball into an empty net to cut the Newcastle lead by half.

Sam got an assist, and Muniz got his goal.

1-2 by the 66th minute.

Sam kept on trying, giving his best, being Fulham's best player by some margin as he kept on orchestrating play yet his teammates failed to capitalize on the chances that he created a second time.

He tried to take a go personally but the Newcastle United players marked him tightly, preventing him from doing anything tangible with the ball.

Towards the end of the game, Sam cut a frustrated figure as he did so much yet there were no results to show for his effort.

In the end, despite his effort, Fulham FC lost the game 2-1 to Newcastle United to crash out of the FA Cup.

Fulham's journey through the FA Cup came to a heartbreaking end just after they pulled off a miracle in their last tournament game.

The Fulham fans didn't complain though, rather, they applauded their players, Sam chants erupting at some point to acknowledge his stand-out display.

Fulham may have lost, but with this performance, a question was answered.

Yes, Samuel Moses, the young attacking midfielder and no. 11 was Fulham's newest star player.