Fulham knew they pulled off a masterstroke with Newcastle signing after 21/22 exploits: View | OneFootball

Aleksandar Mitrovic rampaged all that came before him the last time he played in the second tier

Even when you look back at Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 21/22 season in the Championship, the Serbian’s goalscoring numbers still belie belief.

43 goals in 44 second tier games, a ratio that equates to more than one goal every 90 minutes if you account for substitutions, while an extra seven assists took him to 50 goal contributions for the season.

The Cottagers scored a whopping 106 goals in the whole campaign, with their target man up top causing havoc against the best that the Football League had to offer, while loving every second of it.

Having notched just three goals in the Premier League the season before, it was the starkest reminder of just how potent the £22 million signing from Newcastle United can be when given an opportunity, and that season he was given his fair share of chances to snaffle up.

Aleksandar Mitrovic’s record-breaking Championship season

The year before Mitrovic set his record, Ivan Toney had set the bar at 31 goals for the season, with the future England international getting the opener in a 3-1 victory over Bristol City on the final day of the campaign to create a new benchmark.

But 12 months on, that figure had been smashed to smithereens by a man who battered, bullied and bulldozed defenders out of his way to even get a sniff of goal, and underlining his brilliance to the Craven Cottage faithful once again.

The boys by the river had already seen the Serb net 26 times, the last time they were in the second tier, but after a campaign of disappointment in the top flight, he was back in the Football League with a vengeance as August 2021 came about.

Middlesbrough got off lightly on the opening day of the season, as the frontman took 90 minutes to get going, before four goals in his next four league matches signalled the start of something special.

Birmingham. Brace. Swansea. Hat-trick. QPR. Brace. West Brom. Hat-trick. Nobody was safe from Mitrovic’s exploits, and once he got the taste of goals in a game, he normally helped himself to a whole feast.

This was an international campaigner at the top of his game, enjoying a season in the sun with all eyes on him as he brushed aside anything that even debated coming in his way.

A frankly ridiculous run of eleven goals in seven games across October and November summed up the absurdity of the situation, with the Londoners almost toying with their opposition on a weekly basis.

Six past Bristol City and Birmingham, seven past Blackburn Rovers and Reading, that Fulham side were showing no mercy as their saunter back towards the top flight continued, with the Cottage being the sight of many a mauling.

Not only was MItrovic calling the shots, but his physicality and hold-up play brought in the likes of Tom Cairney, Harry Wilson and Fabio Carvalho to finish off the job if needed, while Neeskens Kebano and Bobby De Cordova-Reid would also play along if they fancied chipping in.

It was more of a case of when not if the Serb would score on most occasions, with 20 of the 23 sides in the division seeing his name pop up on the scoresheet across the campaign, with Coventry City, Sheffield United and Derby County the trio to avoid the punishment.

Aleksandar Mitrovic 21/22 season by numbers

After finishing the campaign with a typical bullish performance in a 7-0 mauling of Luton Town in front of the TV cameras, Mitrovic’s brace that day took him to 43 goals for the domestic campaign.

That tally saw 12 goals come from headers, as the physical fire starter got his way against opposing defenders in the penalty area time and time again, and buried them with his bonce with consummate ease.

A further six were from the penalty spot, while his seven assists saw him contribute towards 47.1% of his side’s goals across the entirety of the campaign, which underlines his importance to the side.

A return on 1.18 goal contributions per 90 proves just how unplayable he was against those in the second tier, while he outperformed his xG numbers by a figure of 7.4, just to prove how clinical his finishing was.

It would only take the Serb 2.22 shots on target for one to find the back of the net during that golden year, which would have no doubt seen the phrase ‘cheat-code’ bandied about by the computer game generation.

A beast, unplayable, goal-getting Gruffalo, whatever you call him, he was the best there has ever been in the second tier, with a record that will likely go unrivalled for generations.

No campaign will ever be like the one of 21/22: the one where Mitrovic went mad.