Mauro Zárate could have been plucked from an Argentine conveyor belt. Smallish in stature, flowing hair, nimble feet, an eye for the goal. Think Carlos Tévez or Lionel Messi. Diego Maradona, even.

Zárate, 21, has much to do before he can be compared with his illustrious compatriots. He is raw and only two months into the hurly-burly of the Barclays Premier League with Birmingham City while on loan from Al-Sadd, the obscure Qatari club. But three goals in two matches, including an expertly taken brace against Manchester City on Saturday, are tempting Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, to part with £10 million to make the move permanent.

“Mauro’s a great kid,” McLeish said. “He lit the place up today. I like players who can make a difference.”

It was Tévez’s finishing towards the end of last season that helped spare West Ham United the ignominy of relegation and Zárate can perform a similar rescue act in the Midlands. He has already impressed his teammates.

“What a talent,” Franck Queudrue, the Birmingham defender, said. “It would be good to keep him full time.”

Zárate had eased Birmingham into a 2-0 lead, coolly chipping in past Joe Hart and then rifling in a drive, before Queudrue was sent off. An arm on Benjani Mwaruwari sent the City striker tumbling and Elano scored from the spot-kick. “It was a soft sending-off,” Queudrue said. “But it was right.”

Rob Styles, the referee, quickly redressed the balance. Gary McSheffrey and Sun Jihai jostled shoulder to shoulder, apparently fairly, yet Styles ruled Sun the offender. McSheffrey tucked in the penalty, Birmingham edged another step closer to Premier League survival and City slid farther away from a Uefa Cup place.

Sven-Göran Eriksson, the City manager, was not happy. Even with a numerical advantage, City appeared listless and disinterested. Apart from the subtle midfield prompting of Stephen Ireland, it was as if their campaign had ended long ago.

Eriksson, the former England head coach, does not do fury. Yet his anger was obvious. “I’m very worried and disappointed because you can’t lose a game like this if you want to play in Europe,” he said. “Not a chance. I suppose we are still close to Europe, but we can’t lose again like that.”

Birmingham City (4-4-2): Maik Taylor 6 – S Kelly 6, R Jaidi 4, F Queudrue 4, D Murphy 5 – S Larsson 7, F Muamba 6, D Johnson 6, G McSheffrey 6 – M Forssell 6 (sub: S Parnaby, 71min), M Zárate 7 (sub: G O’Connor, 90).
Substitutes not used: C Doyle, M Nafti, C Jerome.
Sent off: Queudrue.
Next: Wigan Athletic (a).

Manchester City (4-3-3): J Hart 6 – Sun Jihai 4, R Dunne 3, N Onuoha 3, J Garrido 4 – G Fernandes 4, D Hamann 4 (sub: Geovanni, 72), S Ireland 5 – Elano 4, Benjani Mwaruwari 4 (sub: E Mpenza, 81), D Vassell 4 (sub: F Caiçedo, 58 4).
Substitutes not used: A Isaksson, V Corluka.
Booked: Caiçedo, Geovanni.
Next: Chelsea (h).

Referee R Styles
Attendance 22,966