Charlton Athletic hated coming up against 43-cap international: View | OneFootball

Who put the ball in the Charlton net? Probably Mark Viduka.

The Australian was one of the most-feared frontmen in the country around the turn of the century, and his presence would have caused Athletic fans to go white with fear whenever he played against them.

Eight goals in 13 games, with nine of those matches ending in a victory for the former Leeds United and Middlesbrough man tells you all you need to know about his prolific record against the Addicks; his favourite opposition to come up against alongside Fulham.

With his rugged, dominant style of play, many a Premier League side fell foul of the striker’s ability to single-handedly dismantle their defence, but Athletic will have seen him walking away with all three points more than most, and must have been sick of the sight of him during the noughties.

Mark Viduka scoring record vs Charlton Athletic.

After signing for Leeds United from Celtic for £6 million in the summer of 2000, Viduka quickly established himself as one of the league’s leading attacking forces, with 17 goals in his first season in England.

He wasted no time in introducing himself to the south London side, with his first meeting against Alan Curbishley’s side seeing him net twice in a 3-1 win at Elland Road; a sign of things to come over the next decade whenever he came up against the Addicks.

With the likes of Alan Smith, Lee Bowyer and Ian Harte alongside him, Viduka was spoilt for choice for quality colleagues during his time in Yorkshire, and it was the former who set him up for both goals in that initial meeting, with the Australian meeting two crosses from the England international to earn his side the win.

The Australian’s next strike came in the reverse fixture that season, and it will be one that will forever be remembered by United fans, with just 11.90 seconds on the clock when he put his side ahead.

It is a strike that remains one of the quickest goals in Premier League history, with only five goals coming closer to kickoff over the course of the last 32 seasons, while Leeds have never scored sooner in the top flight since its revamp in 1992.

After a barren season to follow, Viduka made up for lost time with a hat-trick in the 02/03 season, as the Whites ran rampant at The Valley in a 6-1 victory, with the Australian getting to take the match ball home as a memento of the occasion.

Five games, six goals; the Australian could do no wrong when Athletic were the opposition, with his record of never tasting defeat against them while with Leeds speaking for itself, having not featured when Charlton took the spoils earlier in the season.

Viduka continues Addicks anguish after Middlesbrough move

He may not have had the same success against the Addicks while with Middlesbrough after his £4.5 million move in 2004, but he still managed to get himself on the scoresheet two more times for the Teessiders in the 05/06 campaign.

The two sides played each other three times in the space of a month in the latter stages of that season, first in the league where Charlton ran out 2-1 victors thanks to a Darren Bent brace, with Viduka's goal equalising with nine minutes to go before the winner was scored.

The two sides were then scheduled to play each other in the FA Cup sixth round; with the first of those two meetings ending in a stalemate, the pair went toe-to-toe once again at The Riverside, as the hosts eventually ran out 4-2 winners to book their spot in the semi-final, which they ultimately went on to lose to West Ham United.

Once again Viduka had proved he had Charlton’s number all ends up every time he faced them, whether it was getting on the scoresheet himself or setting up his teammates, just as he did in both victories the following season as the Addicks’ time in the top flight came to an end, with Julio Arca and Lee Cattermole the beneficiaries.

Dropping down a division was the only way they were ever going to escape Viduka and his God-given ability to inflict pain on Athletic supporters on a regular basis, as the two never crossed paths again before hung up his boots up in 2010.

An audible sigh of relief was heard around Greenwich that day, as Charlton fans knew they had escaped his clutches, having seen him batter and bruise their defence for seven years running.