- By Yann Tear at Craven Cottage
One final blitz in a season full of them sees seventh-heaven Fulham crowned champions
Fulham (2) 7 Cairney 29, Tete 39, Carvalho 54, Mitrovic 62, 90 De Cordova-Reid 65 Seri 79
Luton Town (0) 0
Fulham turned on the style to wrap up the Championship title that their form for most of the season has suggested would be theirs.
An initially very physical Luton simply wilted as the Whites once again ran riot. It was the seventh time they have bagged five or more goals in a match this season.
The Hatters simply had no answer in a crushing loss which puts their play-off participation under threat.
Skipper Tom Cairney fittingly fired home the club’s 100th league goal of the campaign to get the ball rolling and defender Kenny Tete added a second before the break to put the Whites in easy street.
A sumptuous third after the break made sure of the victory - a peach of a goal from Liverpool target Fabio Carvalho which Whites fans will hope was not a mere send-off ahead of a summer move.
No Fulham rout would be complete without at least one goal from Championship player of the season Aleksandar Mitrovic, who duly obliged with two.
His first came when he stroked home after darting through on a pass from Harry Wilson and burying a rebound off defender Reece Burke and he bagged his 43rd of a crazy season in injury time.
In between his double, Bobby De Cordova-Reid and sub Jean Michael Seri found the net in a deliriously one-sided affair.
“Stand up for the champions” rang out from all corners, fans merrily twirling freebie scarves in the air to paint the stands black and white.
Recent form may have been a bit patchy, but so many points have been banked ahead of the season’s climax that there was only ever the slightest doubt that a trophy would accompany promotion.
It means they can sit back and watch tomorrow’s battle for second place between Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest with amused detachment.
The Hatters were looking for the point which would clinch a play-off place for them and make their final fixture at home to Reading less of an ordeal. Now they may need a win to stay above Middlesbrough on the final day.
They were lucky early on when Kal Naismith mistimed a lunge at the ball and could not halt a momentum which carried him into Fabio Carvalho. Ref Tim Robinson decided the howls of protest for a penalty were off the mark.
Naismith soon featured at the other end, attacking a space on the edge of the area before testing Marek Rodak with a raking low drive which had to be helped behind.
But that was as good as it got for the visitors. Soon, the anticipated story of a title-clinching home win for the Whites began to unfold.
Wilson’s ball into the inside right channel gave Mitrovic a sniff of a chance, and his effort was smothered. But not long after, the Whites were in front when Cairney buried a pass from the busy Wilson, who had danced in from the right edge of the area to tee up the Scot.
The goal came when the Hatters were temporarily down to 10 men – Fred Onyedimna having pulled up with a leg injury which prevented him from continuing.
Luton, increasingly frustrated by the patterns being weaved around them by the increasingly comfortable hosts, provoked a flurry of yellow cards – four in all in the opening 35 minutes. They went on to collect as many bookings as goals conceded.
A second goal was inevitable and it came from the unlikeliest of sources as Kenny Tete pinged a beautiful left-foot skidder from 20 yards past the despairing right hand of emergency loan keeper Matt Ingram.
It was only his second of the season – the other having come in the 7-0 win at Reading in January.
Soon after, Wilson was played in by Mitrovic and rounded the keeper before seeing his goalbound shot cleared off the line by Tom Lockyer and everyone sensed a fun second half was on the way.
Cairney almost got on the scoresheet again with another of those trademark curlers from outside the box which cleared the bar by just inches.
Soon after was an even better moment, as Carvalho started and finished a great move. His lay-off to Mitrovic was played on to Wilson, who laid the ball back into space for the Portuguese to race on and put away with supreme style.
And there was an assist to follow too as the 19-year-old slipped a fine ball through to De Cordova-Reid who drifted between two players before burying goal number five.
The punishment was still not over for Luton, though, as Seri came on and drilled through a thicket of players from outside of the area to find the net via Ingram’s right-hand post.
A Wilson intercept ended with yet another Mitrovic goal in injury time – a fine low shot into the bottom corner.
It was some way for this team to sign off for the season in front of their own fans, who were soon swarming onto the pitch in spite of pleas over the PA to keep off.
Eventually they dispersed and a trophy presentation could take place - the very least this all-conquering team deserved.
Whites: (4-2-3-1) Rodak – Tete, Ream, Tosin, Robinson – Reed (Seri 72), Cairney (Muniz 86) – Wilson, Carvalho (Kebano 78), De Cordova-Reid – Mitrovic. Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Hector, Chalobah, Bryan
Hatters: (3-1-4-2) Ingram – Burke, Lockyer, Potts – Naismith – Onyedinma (Kioso 31), Lansbury, Snodgrass (Clark 67), Bell – Jerome (Muskwe 64), Hylton. Subs not used: Isted, Cornick, Mendes Gomes, Clark, Muskwe, Thorpe
