Aleksandar Mitrovic has poked fun at Ivan Toney, claiming that the Brentford striker must idolise him after he mimicked Mitrovic's distinctive celebration this weekend. The two free-scoring forwards clashed on Saturday when Toney's Bees made the short trip to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham.
The hosts stormed into a two-goal lead, but Brentford hit back with Toney equalising with 19 minutes left to play in normal time. The former Peterborough man toasted that strike by copying Mitrovic's trademark hand-to-ear celebration.
However, the Serbian got the last laugh, pouncing in the 90th minute to grab the winner in a 3-2 victory and send his former Newcastle team-mate home unhappy.
What has Mitrovic said about Toney mimicking his celebration?
"Everybody has idols. He used to play with me in Newcastle and he was my boy. My idol was [Alan] Shearer and I am probably his idol," Mitrovic told reporters at full-time.
Saturday was not the first time that the 27-year-old has got the better of Toney. Last season Mitrovic eclipsed his ex-teammate's record Championship goal tally of 31, netting an incredible 43 strikes in 44 appearances.
Mitrovic went on to reveal that he enjoyed the intense atmosphere of Saturday's west London derby.
"It was a proper derby, everyone enjoyed it – the fans, us on the pitch," he added. "I think our manager didn’t enjoy it that much, but at the end I’m sure he was happy!"
Mitrovic does not care about critics
Mitrovic notched his third goal of the season against Brentford, form which has already gone a long way to silence critics who doubted whether he could replicate his Championship production in the Premier League.
"I don’t care about critics. I always knew I belonged here," he added.
"I feel good, I’m enjoying the moment, enjoying the Premier League, helping the team and working hard every day. Critics are always going to have different opinions but I don’t care about it."