Larsson stunner shocks Spurs
Birmingham beat Juande Ramos' Tottenham 3-2 at White Hart Lane
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Sunday, 02, Dec 2007 08:57
A sensational last-minute strike from Sebastian Larsson gave Birmingham a thrilling 3-2 win over ten-man Tottenham at White Hart Lane.
In Alex McLeish's first match in charge, Larsson thundered in a 30-yard strike to snatch victory.
The Blues had led 1-0 at the break thanks to a Gary McSheffrey penalty.
Robbie Keane struck two quick-fire goals but Cameron Jerome drew the visitors level with a stunning individual goal.
Keane was then given a straight red card for a two-footed challenge.
The result moves McLeish's side into 12th spot while Spurs remain in 15th place.
Spurs boss Juande Ramos started with Keane, Dimitar Berbatov and Darren Bent up front. Jermain Defoe was on the bench after recovering from flu while Jermaine Jenas missed the game through injury.
McLeish recalled goalkeeper Maik Taylor and started with Larsson and Jerome upfront.
Spurs bombarded the Blues goal in the first-half with Keane blazing over from close-range after exchanging passes with Bent on 12 minutes.
The home side's front three continued to cause problems for the Blues with Taylor forced into a fine save to keep out Bent's strike after Berbatov's threaded ball on 21 minutes.
But against the run of play the Midlands side took a shock lead when McSheffrey was clumsily tripped over by Younes Kaboul in the 26th minutes.
McSheffrey stepped up and slotted in the penalty to give McLeish the perfect start to his reign.
Taylor continued to frustrate Spurs and pulled off a stunning save to tip Gareth Bale's free-kick around the post six minutes from the break.
Ramos made two changes at the break with Tom Huddlestone and Jermain Defoe on for Bent and Kaboul.
The substitutions worked with Spurs awarded a penalty when Berbatov ran onto Didier Zokora's through ball and was tripped by Johan Djourou.
The in-form Keane buried his spot-kick into the top corner to make it 1-1.
Four minutes later Spurs were 2-1 ahead when Huddlestone's clipped pass found Keane who whacked his volley home for his 11th goal of the season.
Berbatov was unlucky not to score two minutes later when his strike rattled the post after Bale's cross.
The Blues made it 2-2 when Jerome jinked past Michael Dawson and Zokora and smashed a left-footed shot past Paul Robinson on 61 minutes.
Spurs' afternoon took another turn for the worse when Keane was given a straight red by referee Phil Dowd for a two-footed challenge on Fabrice Muamba in the 67th minute.
Despite having ten-men Spurs continued to push forward for the winner with Defoe agonisingly close to grabbing the winner with a rebound but was denied by Stephen Kelly's block.
Substitute Mikael Forssell missed a glorious opportunity three minutes from time when he clipped the top of the crossbar with a tap-in after Olivier Kapo's cross from the left.
In the 90th minute, Larsson won the ball off Berbatov and unleashed a 30-yard pile-driver into the top corner.