Alexander Mitrovic scored the championship goal of the season to 43 after Fulham won the title in a devastating 7-0 win over Luton at Craven Cottage.
Captain Tom Kearney opened the scoring in the 29th minute – the Cottages’ 100th goal in the league’s campaign – and Kenny Tet scored two 10 minutes later to ensure that the hosts who sealed the Premier League promotion on April 19 control at rest.
The Gateways opened in the second half with goals from Fabio Carvalho, Bobby Decordova-Reed, reserve Jean-Michael Seri and a double by Mitrovic – confirming a record-breaking second-tier score for the Serbian striker. This was the third time this season that Marco Silva’s team had scored seven goals.
The hopes of the playoffs Luton, who put the urgently hired Matt Ingram in the door in place of the injured James Shea, chose the first chance of the match when Cal Naismith brought forward from the midfield and imposed a clever save by Marek Rodak.
However, this was not a sign of things to come, as Fulham soon established. The Cottages made their first attempt in the middle of the first half, Ingram calmed Mitrovic’s shot after he was played by Harry Wilson, but the home fans did not have to wait too long to overcome the impasse.
Wilson followed some neat skills, finding Cairney, who crashed from the end of the penalty area to lead the century of goals for the London club. Hatters’ problems were compounded by the loss of midfielder Fred Oniedinma, who was injured when the door piled up and was replaced by Peter Kioso.
Alexander Mitrovic celebrates the seventh goal. Photo: John Sibley / Action Images / Reuters
The result and the goal of the title turned out to be certain six minutes before the interval, when the right back Tete adhered to a bad clearing and unleashed a great effort in the bottom corner.
Luton looked in danger of distorting under Fulham’s pressure and almost finished third before the break when Wilson bypassed Ingram, but Tom Locker did a good job clearing the line. Cairney was close to scoring his second goal two minutes after the restart, and his curling attempt shaved the top of the crossbar.
Fulham’s third goal came in the 54th minute, however, thanks to Carvalho with the help of Mitrovic and Wilson.
Mitrovic entered his name in the record for the first time just after the end of the hour, making his way into the zone and finishing with confidence before Decordova-Reed made five with a smooth turn and fired three minutes later.
The reserve Serie added a sixth 11 minutes after a time of 20 yards – his first goal of the campaign – before Mitrovic finished the perfect night in added time, breaking the record for scoring goals in the Championship.
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