During the halftime interval, Dilraba, buzzing from the electric atmosphere, quickly edited the video she had captured from the VIP section and uploaded it to her massive Douyin following.
Less than five minutes after hitting post, the notification icon became a blur.
"Wow! Dream crossover! Dilraba actually went to watch Theodore Bjorn play! So jealous!"
"Listen to that noise! Over 40,000 fans chanting his name... the atmosphere at Villa Park looks unbelievable!"
"I want to go to a live match so badly now!"
...
Fifteen minutes later, the referee blew the whistle to commence the second half.
For the opening five minutes, the center of the pitch became an absolute war zone.
As Villa's midfield engine, Theodore threw himself into the chaotic, physical battles with Liverpool's press.
During the break, Jurgen Klopp had been emphatic: Liverpool needed to strike fast and re-establish their dominance.
In the 48th minute, Klopp's relentless Gegenpressing finally forced a crack.
Under suffocating pressure, Douglas Luiz attempted a risky, blind pass.
Gini Wijnaldum read it like a book, stepping in to intercept cleanly.
A careless mistake in a lethal area.
Liverpool's transition was terrifyingly fast. Wijnaldum didn't hesitate; he instantly fired the ball out to Sadio Mané on the left flank.
In Klopp's system, the wingers are the primary goalscoring threats.
Mané hit his topspeed.
He looked like a blur, surging forward and instantly tearing into the Aston Villa defensive line.
Matt Targett was tasked with tracking the Senegalese winger. Though Targett had run himself into the ground all night, facing an isolated Mané in a footrace was a mismatch.
When Mané dropped his shoulder and shifted gears, Targett was left completely stranded.
Reaching the byline, Mané opted for a sharp, intelligent cutback toward the edge of the penalty area.
Jordan Henderson, having made a lung-busting run from deep, arrived perfectly to meet the pass.
Boom!
The Liverpool captain threw his right boot at it.
Marvelous Nakamba and Douglas Luiz threw themselves in front of the shot with desperate sliding blocks, but Henderson was a fraction faster.
The ball rocketed through the crowded box, agonizingly grazing the outside of the post before flying into the Holte End.
"A massive let-off for Villa!" Martin Tyler announced. "Henderson was inches away from reclaiming the lead for Liverpool."
On the touchline, Dean Smith exhaled sharply. He understood the brutal reality: sitting back and trying to absorb pressure from this Liverpool side was a death sentence.
Villa had to fight fire with fire.
They had to attack.
In the 53rd minute, Villa manufactured an opening.
Theodore collected a loose ball in midfield and instantly played a slick, one-two wall pass with John McGinn to bypass the first line of the press.
As Theodore drove into the attacking third, Henderson and Adam Lallana converged on him, intending to snap the trap shut.
But Theodore was too quick, slipping a deft pass out to Jack Grealish on the left wing.
"Grealish isolated against Alexander-Arnold again," Alan Smith noted. "Can he get the better of the young right-back this time?"
Grealish didn't try to beat him for pace.
Showing respect for Trent's defensive recovery, Grealish opted for a direct, early cross into the box, aiming for Wesley.
It was a poor decision.
Wesley launched himself into the air, but against Virgil van Dijk, he stood absolutely no chance.
The Dutch colossus dominated the airspace, powering a commanding header clear.
"Wesley is just getting bullied in there," Tyler observed.
However, Van Dijk's clearance didn't find a red shirt. It dropped perfectly near the top of the penalty arc.
Theodore was waiting.
This was the golden ticket!
Facing the dropping ball, Theodore didn't bother taking a touch to control it. He set his feet, locked his ankle, and unleashed a ferocious, first-time volley!
Boom!
The ball exploded off his boot, tracing a sickening, laser-straight path toward the goal!
"GOAL!"
"A STAGGERING, WORLD-CLASS VOLLEY!" Tyler roared, his voice hitting a frantic pitch. "THEODORE BJORN SECURES HIS HAT-TRICK!"
"The sheer technique on that strike is outrageous," Alan Smith added, shaking his head. "Alisson dived, but it was purely academic. The placement is absolute perfection."
"Villa have flipped the script entirely! The broadcast cuts to Jurgen Klopp—he looks absolutely shell-shocked!"
The fans were losing their minds.
"666!! Unstoppable! He is a cheat code!"
"The greatest midfielder to ever play the game!"
"I never saw prime Gerrard or Lampard, but Theo is my GOAT. Best in the world right now."
"Four against City, three against Liverpool... his scoring rate is matching prime Messi!"
In the stands, over forty thousand Villa fans surged to their feet, the roar of their applause deafening.
The Holte End chanted his name with religious fervor.
Theodore finally allowed himself to celebrate. He leaped onto the advertising hoardings, pumping his fist toward the roaring masses.
The Savior of Villa Park had delivered again!
After the restart, Villa were flying.
Brimming with confidence, they hounded Liverpool, quickly winning the ball back in the midfield trenches.
Despite having the lead, Dean Smith didn't park the bus.
He screamed from his technical area, demanding his players keep their foot on Liverpool's throat.
In the 60th minute, Theodore produced another moment of magic.
Receiving the ball near the edge of the final third, he was instantly boxed in by Henderson and Lallana.
It was a vicious pincer movement designed to force a turnover.
Theodore didn't panic.
He stop abruptly, fooling both midfielders, before executing a stunning, sweeping cross-field diagonal pass that dropped flawlessly onto McGinn's boot on the right flank.
McGinn used his low center of gravity and brute strength to shrug off Andy Robertson's challenge, buying himself a yard of space to whip in a heavy cross.
Thump!
The delivery swung dangerously into the box.
McGinn didn't aim for Wesley, who was permanently occupied by Van Dijk. He aimed for the back post, targeting the space behind Dejan Lovren.
Theodore, who had continued his run from midfield, arrived like a freight train.
Lovren was strong in the air, but he was completely blindsided by Theodore's momentum.
The teenager launched himself into the Birmingham sky, completely overpowering the Croatian center-back to snap a downward header toward the net!
Alisson threw himself across the goal mouth, but the header was too powerful and too close.
It crashed past the Brazilian's gloves!
4-2!
"THEODORE BJORNNNNNNNNNNN AGAIN!" Tyler screamed. "HE SCORES FOUR!"
"My goodness! Back-to-back quatricks in the Premier League against the two best teams in the country!" Alan Smith marveled. "It defies belief. He is the ultimate giant slayer!"
The Etihad had been silenced last week, and now Villa Park was shaking to its foundations.
Every single supporter was on their feet, screaming themselves hoarse.
Theodore jogged back to the center circle.
He didn't celebrate.
He looked like a man who expected nothing less.
On social media, the timeline was melting down.
"Is this real life? Back-to-back four-goal games from a midfielder?!"
"He has more goals than assists now. That is terrifying."
"Look at Klopp's face! He looks like he's seen a ghost!"
"I've never seen anyone do this to Liverpool. Ever."
"Lovren got absolutely manhandled in the air. Only Van Dijk can survive against this kid."
At 4-2 down, panic set in among the Liverpool ranks.
The Premierleague Giant looked shell-shocked.
They had never expected their defense to be torn to shreds by a 17-year-old!
"PUSH UP! GET FORWARD NOW!" Klopp screamed from the touchline, frantically waving his arms.
The German manager refused to wave the white flag. He was going to throw the kitchen sink at Villa.
In the 67th minute, Lallana managed to slide a pass through to Salah on the right wing.
Having been kept relatively quiet since halftime, the Egyptian King knew he had to produce some magic to drag his team back into the tie.
"Salah isolated!" Tyler called the action. "He's got Targett, Grealish, and Luiz all converging on him!"
"A brilliant nutmeg!"
"He burns past Targett and drives into the box!"
"He shifts it onto his left foot... shoots!"
"A MASSIVE BLOCK FROM THEODORE BJORN!" Tyler roared. "He throws his body on the line to deny a certain goal!"
A deafening cheer erupted from the Villa fans, louder than some goal celebrations.
Theodore wasn't just destroying Liverpool offensively, his defensive work rate was absolute perfection.
Salah looked at the sky in pure frustration.
He was locked in a brutal race for the Golden Boot with the teenager.
Salah sat on 15 goals, while Theodore's masterclass had pushed him to 18.
Salah had hoped to close the gap tonight; instead, he was watching it widen exponentially.
The clock ticked past the 70th minute.
Liverpool had just twenty minutes to salvage a miracle.
Klopp hadn't made any substitutions. It wasn't stubbornness, he simply looked at his bench and knew his starting eleven offered the best chance of a comeback.
If Salah, Mané, and Firmino couldn't break Villa down, nobody on the bench could.
Unfortunately for Klopp, hoping for a miracle often leads to deeper despair.
Just five minutes later, Liverpool's defense completely opened again!