EFL Trophy: Shrewsbury 0 Birmingham 4 - Report
Shrewsbury Town bowed out of the EFL Trophy after they were outclassed by fellow League One opponents Birmingham City.
Three goals before the break and one in the second half saw the League One leaders ease to a 4-0 victory.
It took Blues just eight minutes to take the lead in Shropshire as Scott Wright opened the scoring.
Ayumu Yokoyama cut in from the left side and forced Toby Savin into a save. The resulting effort from Keshi Anderson hit the post before Wright finally managed to force it over the line.
It could have been 2-0 when former West Brom youngster Taylor Gardner-Hickman met a cross from Alex Cochrane on the volley, but that effort went wide.
The gulf between the two sides was clear for all the see, but Shrewsbury offered a threat at times.
John Marquis was denied by Ryan Allsop, and after Winchester kept the attack alive, Leo Castledine headed goalwards, but Dion Sanderson did enough to stop it going in.
Blues got their second just before the half-hour mark when Tomoki Iwata rounded off a brilliant passing move.
And the game was put beyond doubt seven minutes before the break when Wright got his second of the evening. Morgan Feeney gave the ball away, and a slick passing move ended with Anderson backheeling it into the path of Wright.
Salop thought they had one back when Castledine finished a fine passing move on the stroke of half-time only to be flagged offside.
Both bosses made changes at the break, Tommi O'Reilly and Mal Benning coming into the action for Town while Brandon Khela came on for Blues.
Sagoe Jr could have got on the scoresheet. He was slipped in by Castledine but it was denied by the legs of Allsop.
Tempers almost boiled over after a late challenge from Taylor Perry on Wright. They both went into the referee's notebook as did Ben Davies and Toto Nsiala for the melee that followed.
Emil Hansson then netted a fourth for Blues within moments of coming on. Khela's effort hit the post, and he could not miss.
The results meant Town were out of the competition after losing their opening two fixtures.
Shrews: Savin, M Feeney, Perry, Winchester, Gilliead, Bloxham, Castledine, Nsiala, Nurse (Benning 45), Sagoe Jr, Marquis (O'Reilly 45).
Subs: Young, Benning, Rossiter, J Feeney, Ojo, O'Reilly, Lloyd.
Blues: Allsop, Sanderson (Klarer 69), May (Jutkiewicz 76), Wright, Leonard, Anderson, Gardner-Hickman, Cochrane (Williams 82), Iwata (Khela 45), Davies, Yokoyama (Hansson 69).
Subs: Mayo, Klarer, Hansson, Jutkiewicz, Khela, Williams, Betteka.
