Nathan Collins’ headed brace helped Brentford avoid a Carabao Cup second round cupset in a ruthless 6-1 victory at Birmingham City.
Callum Wilson’s sixth-minute finish put Brentford into an early lead which was cancelled out by Demarai Gray’s 28th-minute strike from a short free-kick by Paik Seung-Ho.
Aaron Hickey’s rebound finish and Collins’ header restored Brentford’s lead at half-time before Mikkel Damsgaard and Igor Thiago found net in the second half, with the Bees’ victory sealed by Collins’ second header in the 77th minute.
Brentford will now feature in the third round draw which is scheduled for Wednesday 26 August upon the conclusion of Preston North End’s tie against Everton live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Despite making eight changes from their ruthless Premier League victory over Tottenham, Brentford once again began on the front foot as Jaidon Anthony nodded a fifth-minute header wide across goal.
Yehor Yarmoliuk however proved key to unlocking the deadlock just a minute later as he won possession and slipped Wilson through, and the striker on his first Brentford start calmly rifled a low shot into the far-bottom right corner to open the scoring.
Birmingham soon came to life as Gray rifled wide of the bottom right corner in the 14th minute and they continued to pile on the pressure.
Their improved momentum soon forced Brentford’s Jannik Schuster into a 26th-minute foul on Lucas Vazquez to send the forward tumbling to ground, from which Gray met Seung-Ho’s short free-kick with a curled strike into the net to restore parity.
Brentford’s confidence however soon rose to the surface as Vitaly Janelt saw a 35th-minute shot blocked out to Hickey, and the full-back calmly rifled his rebound strike into the far-left bottom corner to restore the Bees’ lead.
Keith Andrews’ Bees soon found themselves in a comfortable position five minutes later when Anthony picked up a pass on the right flank, and calmly whipped a cross into the box which Collins nodded into the left corner to extend their lead at the break.
Brentford continued their dominance in the second half as Schuster nodded a cross wide, whilst Mikkel Damsgaard curled a free-kick over the bar.
Birmingham’s resistance was broken in the 70th minute as Janelt led a quick counter-attack as he slipped Anthony forward out on the right flank, with his subsequent cross left by Thiago for Damsgaard unmarked to fire in.
Anthony then produced his third assist of the match just three minutes later as he played a low cross across the box which was turned in by Thiago.
Brentford added further misery on their hosts in the 77th minute as Collins met a short cross from Mamadou Sangare with a header into the net to secure the Bees’ sixth goal.
What’s Next?
Birmingham turn their focus back to the Championship with a Hollywood derby trip to Wrexham on Friday 28 August at 8pm BST.
Brentford meanwhile are back in Premier League action on Sunday 30 August away to Leeds United at Elland Road in a 2pm kick-off.
Teams
Birmingham City: Ryan Allsop, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Dael Fry, Christoph Klarer, Kristoffer Lund (Cochrane 61′), Jhon Solis, Paik Seung-Ho (Iwata 83′), Carlos Vicente, Kanya Fujimoto (Stansfield 61′), Demarai Gray (Neumann 75′), Lucas Vazquez (Priske 61′)
Substitutes: James Beadle, Alex Cochrane, Marvin Ducksh, Tomoki Iwata, Ethan Laird, Phil Neumann, August Priske, Patrick Roberts, Jay Stansfield
Brentford: Hakon Valdimarsson, Aaron Hickey, Jannik Schuster, Nathan Collins, Rico Henry (Lewis-Potter 71′), Yehor Yarmoliuk (Sangare 46′), Vitaly Janelt (Kayode 71′), Dango Ouattara (Schade 46′), Mikkel Damsgaard, Jaidon Anthony, Callum Wilson (Thiago 62′)
Substitutes: Fabio Carvalho, Mathias Jensen, Michael Kayode, Caoimhin Kelleher, Keane Lewis-Potter, Igor Thiago, Mamadou Sangare, Kevin Schade, Kristoffer Ajer
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