After the Arsenal scalp, Villa had effectively put the rest of the Premier League on notice.
Six consecutive wins. They were a genuine force!
However, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City had absolutely annihilated Crystal Palace 5-0 the same weekend, meaning Villa remained locked in second place, trailing the champions by three goals on goal difference.
Closing that gap wasn't going to be easy. City seemed to win every match by a landslide.
Furthermore, the schedule was about to become brutal.
The honeymoon period of playing once a week was over.
With the Europa League group stages underway and the League Cup kicking off, Villa faced a grueling month of midweek fixtures.
...
Three days after the Emirates, Villa traveled to the south coast to face Brighton in the third round of the League Cup.
Dean Smith, prioritizing the league and Europe, heavily rotated his squad.
Theodore wasn't even named to the bench.
He had played every single minute of the campaign thus far, and after the brutal, lung-busting shift against Arsenal, Smith refused to risk his star man in a domestic cup tie.
If Theodore picked up an injury, Villa's season would derail instantly.
...
September 26, 2019. 8:00 PM. The Amex Stadium.
Despite not being in the squad, Theodore had traveled with the team. Instead of sitting in the dugout, he watched the match from the stands alongside Laura Woods, who was covering the game for Sky Sports.
"Theo, honestly, do you think the boys can get the job done tonight without you pulling the strings?" Laura asked, shivering slightly in the chilly sea breeze.
"Brighton have won their last two here."
Theodore didn't hesitate. "We'll win. We aren't a one-man team, Laura. Watch."
Theodore's confidence was justified.
Despite the heavy rotation, Villa seized control of the tie immediately.
In the 11th minute, John McGinn broke the deadlock with a trademark thumping strike from distance.
Less than five minutes later, Wesley powered home a header from a corner kick.
Inside twenty minutes, Villa had built a comfortable 2-0 lead, catching Graham Potter's Brighton completely cold.
With the two-goal cushion secured, Dean Smith immediately ordered the team to drop deep and park the bus, suffocating Brighton's possession-based approach.
The home side struggled to find any answers against the low block.
By halftime, the score remained 2-0.
During the break, while Theodore and Laura were chatting, a young fan wearing a blue and white Brighton shirt timidly approached their row and asked for an autograph.
Theodore smiled, took the Sharpie, and signed the boy's shirt.
The interaction opened the floodgates.
Soon, dozens of fans in the surrounding sections realized who was sitting among them. The scene quickly devolved into an impromptu meet-and-greet.
Even well into the second half, Brighton fans kept wandering over to ask the teenager for photos and signatures.
Despite wearing claret and blue, Theodore was treated like royalty on the south coast.
...
The match drifted to a close.
Neither side scored in the second half, and Aston Villa comfortably advanced to the fourth round of the League Cup with a 2-0 victory.
Three days later, Villa returned to Premier League action, hosting Burnley at Villa Park.
Sean Dyche's Burnley sat 16th in the table, having failed to register a single win all season. They were already entrenched in a relegation dogfight.
Against Villa, they offered absolutely zero resistance.
Less than eight minutes in, Theodore dropped a 60-yard pass over the top for Wesley to volley home.
In the 16th minute, Theodore arrived at the near post to power home a header from a Grealish corner.
2-0 inside twenty minutes.
Furious with the total collapse, Sean Dyche abandoned his usual pragmatic, defensive setup and ordered his men to push higher up the pitch to chase the game.
It was suicide.
Villa ruthlessly exploited the space behind the Burnley defense.
Operating like a quarterback, Theodore orchestrated lightning-fast counter-attacks, picking out Grealish and El Ghazi with devastating precision. He completed a hat-trick of assists before halftime.
Villa ultimately thrashed Burnley 4-0, securing their seventh consecutive Premier League victory!
There was no time to celebrate.
The morning after the Burnley win, Villa immediately shifted their focus to the Europa League.
Next up: Turkish giants Beşiktaş. Away from home.
Vodafone Park in Istanbul is globally recognized as one of the most hostile, intimidating stadiums in world football. It is an absolute cauldron.
This was guaranteed to be a massive test of Villa's mental resilience.
To help the squad acclimatize, Dean Smith ordered the team to fly out to Turkey two days early.
During the mandatory pre-match press conference, Beşiktaş head coach Abdullah Avcı threw down the gauntlet.
"Tomorrow night, we are going to deliver a show for our supporters," Avcı told the assembled press pool, his tone dripping with arrogance.
"We are going to crush Aston Villa."
The English reporters were stunned.
Villa were currently dismantling the Premier League and had just beaten Arsenal at the Emirates.
"Mr. Avcı," a Sky Sports reporter pressed. "You intend to crush the team sitting second in the Premier League?"
Avcı scoffed. "I don't care where they sit in the table. Last season they were playing in the second division. They're not a top club. Watch us slaughter them tomorrow night."
Avcı's comments instantly went viral, infuriating the Villa fanbase and, more importantly, the dressing room.
Jack Grealish immediately called a players-only meeting at the team hotel.
"Lads, you heard what he said," Grealish addressed the room, his voice tight with anger. "He thinks we're a Championship side. He has absolutely zero respect for us. Tomorrow night, I want every single one of you ready to go to war. We are going to silence that stadium."
The meeting ended with a massive roar of approval.
The squad finished their final walkthrough session at 8:00 PM.
By the time they returned to the hotel and got into bed, it was past 10:00 PM.
Just as Theodore was drifting off to sleep, a deafening explosion of noise shattered the night.
Drums. Flares. Chants.
Hundreds of hardcore Beşiktaş ultras had surrounded the hotel. They were intentionally trying to ruin the players' sleep to compromise their performance.
A few mindless thugs even started hurling rocks at the windows.
The police eventually dispersed the mob, but the damage was done.
The sleep deprivation only fueled the Villa squad's fury!
...
The following evening. 5:00 PM.
Vodafone Park.
The atmosphere was purely toxic. The stadium was packed to the rafters with forty thousand screaming Beşiktaş fans.
Before the whistle even blew, the ultras unleashed a torrent of vile abuse, throwing lighters and coins at the small pocket of traveling Villa supporters secured behind iron fencing.
The Spanish referee, Carlos del Cerro Grande, blew the whistle.
Beşiktaş kicked off and immediately launched a ferocious assault.
Burak Yılmaz tapped the ball to Mohamed Elneny, who instantly hit a raking long ball straight into the Villa penalty area.
Tyrone Mings and Björn Engels didn't flinch.
The two massive center-backs sandwiched Yılmaz, legally bullying the Turkish striker out of the way. Mings powered a clearing header upfield.
The ball dropped toward the midfield circle. John McGinn positioned himself to bring it down.
Before McGinn could even take a touch, Beşiktaş midfielder Dorukhan Toköz arrived like a freight train.
Toköz didn't attempt to play the ball, he launched his entire body directly into McGinn, executing a brutal, blind-side shoulder charge that sent the Scotsman flying through the air.
McGinn hit the turf hard.
The Villa bench leaped up in protest, demanding a foul.
Del Cerro Grande waved play on. The referee was clearly setting a terrifyingly high threshold for physical contact.
Having won the ball through pure violence, Toköz immediately fed Caner Erkin on the left wing.
Erkin drove hard at the Villa defense, throwing a step-over before violently cutting inside.
Theodore and Conor Hourihane stepped up to block his path.
Seeing the two Villa midfielders, Erkin didn't try to dribble past them. Taking a cue from the referee's leniency, the Turkish winger simply dropped his shoulder and tried to brutally barge straight through Theodore.
It was a massive mistake.
Theodore possessed an 87 Strength attribute. He didn't budge an inch. He braced himself and met Erkin with a devastating shoulder charge of his own.
Thwack!
Erkin bounced off the teenager like he had hit a brick wall, collapsing to the turf in a heap.
"Bjorn stands his ground!" Darren Fletcher noted on the broadcast. "He gives Erkin a taste of his own medicine!"
Del Cerro Grande, staying consistent with his earlier non-call, waved play on again.
Theodore scooped up the loose ball. He took one touch, picked his head up, and prepared to launch a counter-attacking long pass.
Just as Theodore planted his standing foot, Mohamed Elneny arrived from his blind spot.
The Arsenal loanee launched himself into a horrendous, two-footed scissor tackle directly through the back of Theodore's calves.
Theodore went down hard, crying out in pain as Elneny completely wiped him out without getting anywhere near the ball.
"Foul!" Fletcher screamed. "That is a dreadful challenge from Elneny! That has to be a red card!"
Incredibly, Del Cerro Grande didn't blow the whistle.
"Play on!" the referee signaled.
Dean Smith lost his mind on the touchline, screaming at the fourth official as Theodore writhed on the pitch.
Elneny scrambled to his feet, collected the loose ball, and instantly threaded a through ball past the disorganized Villa backline.
Burak Yılmaz latched onto it near the penalty spot.
The veteran striker didn't hesitate, unleashing a thunderous strike that tore past Tom Heaton and nearly broke the net.
1-0.
Vodafone Park erupted into absolute madness!
Tens of thousands of fans ripped off their shirts, swinging them around their heads as red flares illuminated the chaotic stands.
---------
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