That evening, Theodore Bjorn took a flight back to England and then boarded a bus to Birmingham.
After the Norway national team match, he needed to focus his energy on the league.
The Championship had completed 38 rounds, leaving only eight matches until the end of the season.
For Aston Villa, winning the Championship title this season naturally meant ensuring victories in all the remaining fixtures.
To be honest, this was no easy task.
Three days later, Aston Villa would face their opponents in the 39th round of the Championship, Blackburn Rovers.
Blackburn sat in seventh place, just six points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa.
Moreover, Rovers had been in excellent form recently, winning five consecutive games.
Aston Villa's form was also outstanding.
Since Theodore had been promoted to the first team, the squad had won every match in both the league and the FA Cup.
Their winning streak in the Championship had reached ten consecutive victories.
Despite this excellent run, Dean Smith dared not take the next fixture lightly.
The day before the match, Smith finalized the starting lineup early. Theodore, fresh off his return from the Norway national team, was once again given a starting opportunity.
He had become the offensive core of Aston Villa.
Whether he started or not made a world of difference for the team.
After training, he returned to his apartment to rest as usual.
Around 10 p.m., just as he was about to go to bed, his phone rang.
It was a call from Dilraba.
"What's up, why are you calling me so late?" he answered.
"I just arrived in London," she said. "If nothing goes wrong, I might come watch your match live tomorrow. Big star, do you remember what you promised me before?"
Faced with her question, Theodore casually asked what he had promised.
Hearing this, Dilraba's tone turned disappointed.
She couldn't help but complain over the phone. "See, you can't trust a man's words. Didn't you promise me before that if I came to watch the match live, you'd give me really good tickets? You actually forgot?"
Hearing it was just about tickets, Theodore breathed a sigh of relief.
"Phew, I thought it was something serious. You scared me. Don't worry, I'll get you the tickets. When you arrive at Villa Park tomorrow, I'll have a club staff member give them to you."
...
Match day arrived.
The stands at Villa Park were packed with supporters.
Due to the international break, fans hadn't been able to watch a match for over a week and were craving an exciting game of football.
In the players' family section, Dilraba, wearing sunglasses, kept taking selfies with her phone.
When the Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers starting players stepped onto the pitch, she put down her phone and began singing the Villa anthem, "Hi Ho Aston Villa," along with the fans in the surrounding stands.
The battle was about to begin.
Up in the broadcasting gantry, Sky Sports commentators Martin Tyler and Gary Neville began their coverage.
"Welcome, football fans, to the 2018-2019 EFL Championship, Round 39's marquee match," Tyler announced.
"Aston Villa hosts Blackburn Rovers here at Villa Park. I'm Martin Tyler, joined as always by Gary Neville."
"The home side, Aston Villa, is on a remarkable ten-game winning streak in the Championship, showing excellent form," Neville added. "They currently sit fourth in the league, while the visiting Blackburn Rovers are on a five-game winning streak, placing seventh. The starting players for both sides have taken the field. For Aston Villa, head coach Dean Smith continues with his preferred 4-1-4-1 formation."
Tyler ran through the lineup. "In goal is Lovre Kalinić. The four defenders are Hutton, Elphick, Mings, and Neil Taylor. The lone defensive midfielder is Jedinak. The four attacking midfielders are Theodore Bjorn, Hourihane, McGinn, and Grealish, with Tammy Abraham as the lone striker."
"As for the visiting Blackburn Rovers, their starting formation is a 4-2-3-1," Tyler continued. "In goal is David Raya. The back four consists of Amari'i Bell, Mulgrew, Lenihan, and Nyambe. Elliott Bennett and Travis sit deep, behind the three attacking midfielders Conway, Dack, and Adam Armstrong. Danny Graham starts up top as the striker."
After the two teams exchanged handshakes, the match officially began.
Following Aston Villa's kickoff, the ball passed through a few midfield exchanges before finally landing at Theodore's feet.
In the stands of Villa Park, tens of thousands of Villa fans erupted into applause and cheers for their young playmaker.
Online, the Villa fanbase was already buzzing.
[Go Theo, put some pressure on Blackburn.]
[The King of Villa, bring us victory.]
[No one can stop his passes.]
[Dribble past them, kid.]
Blackburn Rovers head coach Tony Mowbray, seeing Theodore receive the ball in midfield, grew anxious.
He knew all too well how formidable the teenager's abilities were.
He shouted from the touchline for his players to press and close him down.
Within moments, the two defensive midfielders, Elliott Bennett and Travis, rushed toward Theodore.
Faced with this, Theodore remained composed.
He pulled the ball with his left foot, then quickly stepped on it and turned, executing a stylish dribble.
He successfully broke through the pressure from the two Blackburn Rovers players.
The moment he shook them off, a vast expanse of space opened up before him.
Theodore didn't choose to pass, instead, he surged forward with the ball.
"Theodore uses a brilliant step-over turn to get past these two Blackburn players," Tyler noted on the broadcast.
"There's no defensive player around to challenge him now."
Neville agreed. "After these months of training, his breakthrough ability has improved significantly compared to when he first joined the first team."
Moments later, Theodore arrived at the top of the penalty arc.
Blackburn's defenders were already in position.
Center-back Mulgrew and full-back Amari'i Bell both rushed toward him.
Seeing this, Theodore calmly tapped the brakes, executing a sudden stop.
He then quickly delivered a threaded through pass.
The ball slipped past the defense and successfully reached striker Tammy Abraham.
After receiving the ball, Abraham had only one defender, Lenihan, left in front of him.
The striker's eyes locked onto the target.
He shifted his weight, lifted his foot, and pulled the trigger.
Bang! The ball tore into the net!
Blackburn Rovers' goalkeeper David Raya was too slow to dive, his outstretched hand grasping at empty air.
Instead of an elaborate celebration, Abraham wore a look of cold satisfaction.
He rushed straight over to Theodore Bjorn, pulling the young playmaker into a tight appreciative embrace.
"AND ITS IN! JUST FOUR MINUTES ON THE CLOCK AND ASTON VILLA DRAW FIRST BLOOD!" Martin Tyler's voice boomed through the Sky Sports broadcast.
"Tammy Abraham applies the finishing touch, but the vision belongs to Theodore Bjorn!"
"He didn't use his trademark long pass this time, Martin," Gary Neville chimed in, analyzing the replay with a critical eye.
"It was a threaded through ball. Since returning from the Norwegian national team, the kid seems to have leveled up his individual game. He shook off those two Blackburn midfielders with terrifying ease."
Neville continued with a hint of frustration in his voice regarding the defending.
"His physical fitness and dribbling skills are getting refined week by week. But you have to question Blackburn here. They underestimated him. Those two midfielders were too confident. They should have taken the tactical foul, but they let him glide right through."
On the pitch, the Aston Villa die-hards serenaded their striker, chanting his name in a deafening chorus.
"Abraham! Abraham! Abraham!"
With over thirty thousand fans chanting in unison, the atmosphere was electric.
After the restart, Aston Villa refused to ease off the gas.
They pressed forward with relentless intensity.
Although Blackburn Rovers held possession from the kickoff, it wasn't long before Villa's midfield enforcers took it back.
Two minutes later, John McGinn, running on pure Scottish grit, dispossessed Travis.
The Blackburn midfielder was no match for McGinn's low center of gravity.
With a hard shoulder barge, Travis crumpled to the turf.
McGinn took control.
Sensing blood, he didn't look for a pass right away. Instead, he tucked his chin and charged aggressively at the Blackburn backline, forcing them into a panic.
Elliott Bennett rushed in for a desperate sliding tackle, but McGinn was too quick, evading the challenge with a sharp flick of his left boot.
But just as McGinn looked up, Bradley Dack blindsided him. Dack, Blackburn's attacking focal point, possessed a lethal shot and a sharp eye for intercepting passes.
Seeing McGinn hesitate, Dack threw his body forward, cleanly stealing the ball.
"McGinn is caught in possession," Tyler noted, the tension rising. "And suddenly, the tables turn. Blackburn is off on the counter."
The turnover was short-lived.
Dack surged toward the Villa goal, brimming with confidence. In just a few strides, he reached the edge of the penalty area.
But Mile Jedinak stepped up like a brick wall, blocking his path, while Theodore closed in rapidly from the flank to trap him.
Sensing the walls closing in, Dack tried to force a pass into the box.
It was a costly mistake.
Theodore anticipated the angle, stepping in to cleanly strip the ball away.
Finding himself with the ball deep in his own half, Theodore's eyes darted upfield.
Boom!
He swung his right foot through the ball. It soared through the Birmingham sky like a guided missile, dropping deep into the Blackburn penalty area.
Near the penalty spot, the 195cm frame of Tammy Abraham went airborne, wrestling for positioning with center-back Charlie Mulgrew.
Hailed by many scouts as the heir to Didier Drogba, Abraham's sheer power showed.
He bullied Mulgrew out of the way, brought the ball down, and lashed a fierce volley on goal.
2-0!
"TOTAL CARNAGE AT VILLA PARK!!! ABRAHAM STRIKES AGAIN!!!" Tyler roared, the excitement bleeding through the microphone.
"A devastating counter-punch! Aston Villa are flying, and Theodore Bjorn delivers another majestic assist!"
On the Sky Sports live feed, fans were losing their minds over the teenager's performance.
[Theo is playing a different game right now. Two assists in ten minutes.]
[That long ball was pure art, he put it on a plate for Tammy.]
[Blackburn looks terrified every time the kid touches the ball.]
Down two goals in the blink of an eye, Blackburn's morale shattered.
Down on the touchline, Tony Mowbray was livid.
His face flushed red as he screamed at his players, demanding they push higher and attack the Villa goal to salvage the match.
When play resumed, the ball found its way back to Dack.
Knowing his earlier mistake had cost them dearly, he played it safe.
The moment Jedinak stepped to him, Dack rushed a pass forward.
It was too heavy, rolling harmlessly into the waiting gloves of Lovre Kalinić.
The Villa keeper didn't hesitate.
He launched a massive punt downfield as the ball dropped onto the left flank, right into the path of Jack Grealish.
The Villa captain had been quiet in the opening stages, lingering in the shadows while Theodore ran the show.
But Grealish was hungry to leave his mark.
Receiving the ball, he dropped his shoulder, faked outside and effortlessly glided past the Blackburn full-back.
Cutting sharply inside, he opened up his body and whipped a curling strike with his right foot!
The ball bent beautifully around the diving keeper, crashing in off the far post.
"GREALISH JOINS THE PARTY WITH A STUNNING SOLO EFFORT!!!" Tyler shouted over the deafening roar of the crowd.
"Three goals in fifteen minutes! Aston Villa are running riot!"