April 19th.
5:00 PM.
The highly anticipated clash between Bolton Wanderers and Aston Villa was about to kick off.
In the Championship table, Bolton languished in second-to-last place, while Aston Villa sat high in second.
The gap in quality between the two sides was glaring.
Furthermore, Bolton had already lost all mathematical hope of avoiding relegation.
Their fate was sealed.
In theory, this should have been a routine victory for the visitors.
However, as soon as the referee blew the whistle, every Bolton player retreated deep into their own half.
They deployed a rigid "park the bus" strategy from the very first minute.
After half an hour of probing, Aston Villa still couldn't find a way through the dense defensive block. Gradually, frustration began to creep into the Villa ranks.
In the final ten minutes of the first half, their build-up play broke down, and they increasingly resorted to speculative long-range shots.
Bolton's midfielders were no pushovers.
They threw their bodies on the line, repeatedly blocking the incoming efforts.
By the time the halftime whistle blew, the score remained a stubborn 0-0.
Back in the dressing room, Dean Smith paced the floor, a visible edge of panic in his voice.
He demanded his players break through the Bolton defense at all costs.
"If we want to win this title, we have to win today," Smith urged, his tone laced with desperation and encouragement. "There's no turning back now. This is the third-to-last game of the season, and time is running out. Push forward, lads. Don't leave yourselves with any regrets. Bolton aren't a strong side, and I know your quality surpasses theirs. Stay focused, trust your football, and the victory will be ours."
The second half mirrored the first.
Aston Villa threw men forward in relentless waves, while Bolton dug trenches on the edge of their own box.
The penalty arc became a fiercely contested battleground, with tackles flying in hard and fast.
Though Villa dominated possession, their attacking efficiency was woefully lacking.
As the team's primary creative spark, Theodore Bjorn delivered several dangerous crosses toward Tammy Abraham.
But with the Bolton penalty area swarming with white shirts, the star striker barely had space to jump, let alone attempt a clean header.
The clock ticked relentlessly past the 75th minute.
Only fifteen minutes remained.
The pressure mounted, weighing heavily on every player's shoulders.
John McGinn, Jack Grealish, and Mile Jedinak reverted to their earlier, frustrated habit of launching shots from distance.
Each hoped to be the hero, trying to single-handedly drag Aston Villa over the line.
But their efforts invariably sailed into the stands, failing to even test the goalkeeper.
Down on the touchline, Dean Smith looked crestfallen.
He never imagined his promotion-chasing side would be dragged into the mud by a relegated team!
84th minute.
Theodore received the ball out on the right flank.
Like the rest of his teammates, the young playmaker had been struggling tonight, lacking his usual fluid rhythm.
However, this time, he was about to give the traveling Villa fans a desperately needed lifeline.
As the ball reached his feet, a Bolton full-back and a midfielder immediately swarmed him, creating a tight double-team. Faced with this trap all evening, Theodore had typically opted for the safe pass backward.
But this time, he didn't.
He backed himself to dribble through them.
Up in the Sky Sports gantry, Martin Tyler leaned into his microphone, sensing a shift in tempo.
"Bjorn gathers it on the right. He's had a quiet night by his standards, but he looks up here. He's not looking for the pass... he drops the shoulder and drives right at them."
Before Tyler could finish his sentence, Theodore surged through the narrow gap between the two defenders.
While his raw dribbling stats weren't elite, he managed to break through purely by catching his opponents off guard.
Earlier in the match, he had passed from this exact position three times.
The Bolton defenders assumed he would recycle possession again, a belief Theodore sold by feinting a pass before dropping his shoulder.
Convinced he was playing it safe, the two defenders shifted their weight to intercept the pass.
Theodore simply flicked the ball through the newly opened space, leaving them stranded.
He drove into the penalty area on his left foot, sparking sheer panic in the Bolton ranks. Defenders scrambled to close him down, leaving gaps in the center.
At the critical moment, Theodore whipped a right-footed cross into the danger zone.
The ball bypassed the frantic Bolton defense, dropping perfectly into the path of Abraham.
Facing a golden opportunity from close range, Abraham didn't hesitate.
He unleashed a thunderous volley as the ball tore into the back of the net!
"OH, WHAT A FINISH! TAMMY ABRAHAM SHATTERS THE BOLTON RESISTANCE!" Tyler roared over the crowd noise.
"A moment of pure inspiration from Theodore Bjorn, and Aston Villa finally have their breakthrough!"
The moment the net rippled, the entire Aston Villa team rushed the corner flag, celebrating wildly in a heap of claret and blue.
On the bench, Dean Smith finally let out a massive sigh of relief, the tension draining from his face.
As an experienced manager, Smith knew the dynamic of the game had just fundamentally shifted.
Bolton had no reason to defend a 1-0 deficit.
They had to push forward and attack, which would leave spaces for Villa to exploit.
His assessment proved correct.
In the dying minutes, Bolton committed bodies forward, launching frantic but blunt attacks against the Villa backline. They failed to pose any genuine threat to Jed Steer's goal.
In the 89th minute, Theodore and Jedinak pressed aggressively in midfield, forcing a heavy touch from a Bolton player.
The loose ball fell kindly to Theodore.
Spotting the disorganized Bolton defense, the teenager immediately showcased his trademark vision.
He swept a soaring, pinpoint long pass over the top.
Seconds later, the ball dropped perfectly for Abraham, who was making a blinding run through the center.
Seizing the moment, Abraham leaped and powered a firm header toward the bottom corner.
The ball grazed the inside of the right post and nestled into the net!
"MATCH POINT, ASTON VILLA! ABRAHAM AT THE DOUBLE!" Tyler shouted, putting an exclamation mark on the commentary.
"A breathtaking delivery from Bjorn, and that is surely three vital points secured for Dean Smith."
The suspense vanished.
In the fleeting moments of stoppage time, Bolton fought valiantly, but Villa's rock-solid defensive shape proved impenetrable.
The final whistle blew.
Aston Villa had secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory!
Since Norwich also won their fixture, the gap at the top remained at just two points.
...
Three days later, Aston Villa prepared to face Millwall at Villa Park.
Millwall had enjoyed a relatively strong season, sitting eighth in the table.
Unfortunately, they were seven points adrift of the playoff spots, meaning their promotion dreams were already over.
Facing an opponent with nothing left to play for, Dean Smith opted for rotation.
After all, just three days after the Millwall game, Villa would host league leaders Norwich in the final match of the season—a winner-takes-all title decider.
To ensure his key players were fresh, Smith moved his starting playmaker, Theodore, to the bench.
The rest of the core eleven remained largely unchanged.
From the opening whistle, Aston Villa's attack flowed smoothly.
With Theodore resting, Grealish took up the mantle as the primary creative force.
Within the first fifteen minutes, the Villa captain repeatedly carved open the Millwall defense with incisive footwork and sharp passes.
Unfortunately, Abraham left his shooting boots at home.
The striker dragged all three of his early chances wide of the mark.
Sensing the frustration, Grealish decided to take matters into his own hands.
In the 22nd minute, after receiving a neat lay-off from McGinn, Grealish shifted the ball quickly onto his right foot.
Without a backlift, he unleashed a venomous, low-driven strike from outside the box!
Goalkeeper David Martin was caught flat-footed.
His dive was a fraction too late, and he could only watch the ball skid into the bottom corner.
1-0.
Aston Villa took the lead!
For the remainder of the afternoon, Villa shifted down a gear, focusing on game management to secure the win with minimal physical exertion.
Millwall, to their credit, didn't bother matching Villa's early intensity.
Their players spent most of the match knocking the ball around the middle third in a display of meaningless possession.