Birmingham City were hammered 6-1 by Brentford in their Carabao Cup second round tie at St Andrew's
Demarai Gray of Birmingham City celebrates scoring against Brentford
Demarai Gray of Birmingham City celebrates scoring against Brentford
Birmingham City were handed their heaviest home defeat in nearly 12 years as they were swept aside and out of the Carabao Cup by Premier League Brentford.
Three goals in each half were too much for Chris Davies' over-matched side who barely laid a glove on a powerful, pacy and clinical Bees team.
Nathan Collins scored twice either side of the break, Aaron Hickey and Callum Wilson - who scored for Bournemouth in that infamous 8-0 defeat in 2014 - also stuck before the interval.
Mikkel Damsgaard and Igor Thiago made it 5-1 before Collins rounded off a humbling night for a Blues side that has just a few days to recover before they go to Wrexham on Friday night.
Keith Andrews made eight changes to the side which hammered Tottenham on Saturday - and in truth the visitors didn't miss a beat.
They were a goal up inside six minutes after Bright Osayi-Samuel's pass infield was seized upon and Yehor Yarmoliuk fed Wilson outside the area. The former West Ham striker hammered low past a flailing Ryan Allsop.
Blues equalised just before the half-hour as Luis Vazquez caught Jannik Schuster in possession on the left, raced away and was brought down.
Paik Seung-ho squared the free kick from the corner of the box to Gray who hammered low and hard through the goalkeeper from 20 yards.
However, the relief was short-lived as Bees scored twice in five minutes, both from throw-in routines on the Blues left. The first saw a loose ball bounce to Hickey who smashed it across goal and in.
The second saw Jaidon Anthony given time and space to pick out Collins who rose high above Dael Fry to head powerfully home and end the half 3-1 up.
The visitors scored three more in the second half. First in the 70th minute when they countered from a Blues corner and Anthony's cross reached Damsgaard on the charge. He hammered past Allsop.
Ninety seconds later it was 5-1 as Anthony was freed on their right and played in a cross that was tapped home by Brazil international Igor Thiago.
Collins made it 6-1 from another corner routine, again picked out by Anthony as he leapt above August Priske for his second of the game.
FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK! All the latest Blues news on Birmingham Live’s Birmingham City FC Facebook page
Allsop 4
Never got near any of the goals. Made a couple of saves but was pretty powerless on an evening when Blues' defended poorly.
Osayi-Samuel 4
Started badly with an errant pass infield which led to the first goal. Had a couple of brighter moments and will be thankful most of the danger came down the opposite flank.
Klarer 4.5
Won some duels, lost some, had a tough battle with Wilson and on the stretch for pretty much the entire game.
Fry 4
Beaten by Collins for the third goal, a weak flick landed at Hickey's feet for the second. Made a couple of good blocks in the area but his lack of pace was exposed.
Lund 4.5
Put in some good quality set-piece deliveries. Battled reasonably well in the first half but had no chance when Anthony went on to his side.
Paik 4
Completely bypassed for most of the game, unable to make any impression - other than to square a free kick for Gray's goal.
Solis 6*
Battled gamely in a midfield pairing that was over-run. A couple of moments of invention and drive but this was a yardstick for the young Colombian as to what it takes to get to the Premier League.
Vicente 4.5
Never shirked in his responsibilities without the ball and had a couple of runs in the first half but he was reduced to chasing and harrying in the second.
Fujimoto 3
A waste of an hour, offered nothing in attack other than miscontrolling Blues' best opening of the first half. Pressed without any conviction. Subbed after an hour.
Gray 6
The one player who looked like he was reasonably comfortable against Premier League opponents. Not that Blues had much ball to give him.
Vazquez 5
Played a part in the build-up to the goal, robbing Schuster of possession and winning the free kick. Competed for his headers, tried to lead the line but was at the top of a team which was out-matched.
Substitutions
Priske (for Vazquez, 61) Put himself about 5
Cochrane (for Lund, 61) Another left back exposed by Anthony 4
Stansfield (for Fujimoto, 61) Set up a chance for Solis 5.5
Neumann (for Gray, 75) N/A
Iwata (for Paik, 82) N/A
Not used: Beadle, Laird, Roberts, Ducksch
Opposition
Brentford: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Schuster, Collins, Henry (Lewis-Potter 71); Janelt (Kayode 71), Yarmoliuk (Sangare 48); Ouattara (Schade 45), Damsgaard, Anthony; Wilson (Thiago 61). Not used: Kelleher, Jensen, Carvalho, Ajer
Goals
Blues: Gray (28)
Brentford: Wilson (6), Hickey (35), Collins (40, 77), Damsgaard (70), Thiago (72),
Article continues below
Get YOUR Birmingham City Newsletter