Brentford ran riot at St Andrew's on Monday evening, thrashing Birmingham 6-1 in the League Cup Round of 64. The visitors made no mistake against a home side that could not cope with the intensity. Callum Wilson opened the scoring after six minutes, and the floodgates never closed.
And here's the thing — Birmingham's defence simply could not hold together. Demarai Gray added a second before half-hour, then Aaron Hickey and Nathan Collins struck inside four minutes of each other before the break. Collins would return later to complete his double, while Mikkel Damsgaard and Igor Thiago buried two more in the second half.
To be fair, the statistics tell the story you would expect. Brentford held 68 per cent possession and registered eight shots on target against Birmingham's two. The visitors created two big chances to the hosts' one, and their expected goals figure of 2.07 dwarfed Birmingham's 0.51. The home side managed only 25 per cent shot accuracy.
By then, Birmingham had already made their substitutions, bringing on Yehor Yarmoliuk and Dango Ouattara on the hour, then Kristoffer Lund, Luis Vázquez and Kanya Fujimoto for Brentford. Callum Wilson was withdrawn after his goal, and Demarai Gray followed later. The home side had no answer to the relentless pressure.
The result leaves Birmingham looking exposed after a run that saw them draw with Bristol City and hold Sheffield United to a goalless stalemate. Brentford, meanwhile, continue their aggressive start — they beat Tottenham 3-0 on their last outing and have not stopped since.
