Sebastian Larsson, the former Arsenal striker, produced a stunning injury-time winner as Alex McLeish’s reign at Birmingham City began in triumphant fashion.

Larsson, recalled to the starting line-up by McLeish, fired an unstoppable 93rd-minute shot that inflicted a first defeat on Tottenham under Juande Ramos.

It was a curious afternoon for Spurs skipper Robbie Keane, who turned from hero to villain by scoring twice in three minutes to give his side the lead, after they had fallen behind to a Gary McSheffrey penalty, only to then be sent off for a lunging tackle on Fabrice Muamba.

Cameron Jerome, the former Cardiff City striker, equalised with a crisp finish before Larsson produced his moment of magic.

How Birmingham survived the first half without conceding, only they will know.

Brilliant interplay between Darren Bent and Keane - started by a long ball from Younes Kaboul - saw the Ireland captain jink into the area only to sky his shot from close range with just Maik Taylor to beat.

Aaron Lennon then set up Keane with a cheeky backheel but when he picked out Dimitar Berbatov near the far post the Bulgarian nodded over.

Taylor did well to keep out Bent, but his save ricocheted on to the leg of an unwitting Liam Ridgewell who nearly put the ball into his own net.

Birmingham then stunned the home crowd by taking the lead after Kaboul clipped Larsson, with McSheffrey’s penalty going between the legs of Robinson as he dived full-length to his left.

Kaboul, the error-prone Frenchman, was substituted at half-time and his mistakes – he gifted West Ham United a goal last week - must be chipping away at the patience of Ramos.

A perfectly-placed 37th minute free-kick by Gareth Bale was heading straight for the top right corner but Taylor produced a superb stop to keep the visitors ahead at the break.

Birmingham finally buckled under the pressure just four minutes after the interval. Didier Zokora sent Berbatov racing through and, in a echo of Kaboul’s challenge, Johan Djourou tripped the Spurs forward who went tumbling. Keane rifled home the penalty for his 12th goal of the season and just three minutes later the club captain sent Spurs ahead, sidefooting home after Tom Huddlestone’s clever reverse ball found him alone in the area.

McLeish will have been delighted how his side fought back after seemingly being out of the game. On 62 minutes Jerome, the England Under-21 striker, skilfully avoided half-hearted tackles from Michael Dawson and Didier Zokora before producing a clinical finish.

Berbatov saw one effort cleared off the line by Ridgewell and Spurs were dealt another hammer blow in the 68th minute when Keane was given his marching orders for a diving one-legged lunge on Muamba resulted in a straight – and harsh - red card from referee Phil Dowd.

Mikael Forssell hit the crossbar from point-blank range late on and Paul Robinson made a smart save from Olivier Kapo but then Larsson delivered the decisive blow from well outside the area.