EFL Cup: Shrewsbury 0-1 Burnley - Report
Shrewsbury Town were knocked out of the Carabao Cup after losing 1-0 to Championship outfit Burnley.
A Samuel Bastien strike early in the second half was enough to give Vincent Kompany's men a comfortable victory at Montgomery Waters Meadow.
Town started the game brightly, and Steve Cotterill would have been pleased with his side's reaction to the defeat to Ipswich at the weekend.
Pennington forced Bailey Peacock-Farrell into a great save in the opening moments, but as the game settled, it was exclusively played in Salop's half, with Burnley having all the ball.
Towards the end of the first period, Gudmundsson missed a volley from six yards out that he should have scored for the visitors, but Salop were good value for the 0-0 scoreline at the break.
The Clarets did break the deadlock after the interval, and it was a challenge for Town from there.
But they pushed to the end, and they thought they had found an equaliser when Dunkley headed in 10 minutes from time, only for it to be ruled out by the offside flag.
Cotterill made four changes to the side that lost 3-0 at the weekend against Ipswich Town.
The boss picked the same back three and goalkeeper, but Rekeil Pyke played at right wingback with Jordan Shipley playing in the left wingback position.
Taylor Moore came back into the side to play in a midfield two with Luke Leahy.
And it was a completely new front three, with Tom Bloxham and Charlie Caton playing behind Ryan Bowman.
The visitors also made changes to the side that drew 3-3 with Blackpool on Saturday.
They had plenty of Premier League experience in their eleven, with the likes of Ashley Barnes, Matt Lowton and Charlie Taylor in their team.
Burnley had lots of the ball in the opening exchanges, but Town looked more like scoring.
They started with more intensity than at the weekend, and they had a brilliant opportunity to take the lead. The ball fell to Shipley after a Salop corner was headed clear by the Clarets, he gave it to Leahy who drilled the ball across the face of the goal.
Matthew Pennington turned it towards goal, but it was kept out by Peacock-Farrell, who produced a brilliant reaction save.
The game followed a similar pattern with the Clarets having the ball. They completed 224 passes to Salop's 25 in the opening half an hour, but their only chance came through a piece of individual skill from Vitinho.
The forward glided past two defenders and into the Salop penalty area, but his shot was cut out at the back post by Shipley, who had got round well to cover.
Burnley continued to probe. Manuel Benson cut in from the left, and he weaved his way into the penalty area. He shot, and his effort hit Tom Flanagan and went inches wide of the post.
And with just over five minutes remaining in the first half, Burnley had worked the most clear-cut opportunity of the half.
Benson laid the ball back to Matt Lowton. The former Aston Villa man hit a first-time ball to the back post for the visitors. And Johann Gudmundson, who was unmarked six yards away from goal, volleyed over the bar.
Apart from the Pennington chance early on, Salop had a couple of half chances but predominantly relied on corners to create opportunities.
The Clarets' had quality on the bench.
And they used that depth at the interval, bringing on Southampton loanee Nathan Tella. Salop also made a change by introducing Julien Dacosta for Pyke.
Five minutes into the second half the visitors took the lead.
Benson got to the byline and crossed the ball along the six-yard box. No Town defender could clear, and it made its way to Bastien at the back post, despite them throwing themselves at the ball, Bastien's effort found its way into the bottom corner.
Salop would have been disappointed with the amount of space, and time he was given to shoot.
It was always going to be an uphill battle for Shrewsbury after going behind.
They had a half chance midway through the second half when Caton gave Bloxham the chance to run. He made his way into the Burnley penalty area but from a tight angle, his shot went straight at Peacock-Farrell.
Cotterill went to his bench and made a triple substitution with just over 15 minutes to go bringing on Tom Bayliss, Daniel Udoh and George Nurse.
And with 10 minutes to remaining, Town thought they had found an equaliser through Dunkley when he headed home a Leahy cross, but he was denied by the offside flag.
Salop pushed to the end but they could not manage to create another clear-cut opening.
Salop: Marosi, Leahy, Pennington, Moore, Bowman, Pyke (Dacosta 45 minutes), Bloxham (Udoh 73mins), Caton (Bayliss 73mins), Dunkley, Shipley, Flanagan (Nurse 73mins).
Subs not used: Burgoyne, Bevan, Craig, Barlow
Burnley: Peacock-Farrell, Lowton, Egan-Riley (Harwood-Bells 86mins), Taylor, Vitinho, Cullen, Bastien, Gudmundsson (Tella 45mins), Benson, Barnes, Churlinov (Brownhill 65mins).
Subs not used: McNally, Norris, Phillips, Dodgson, Costelloe, Muric.
