Encouraged from the start, City continued to take the game to their opponents. Nicky Butt and Damien Johnson worked hard to disrupt Spurs' neat midfield triangles, and with Jermaine Pennant a readily available outlet as he switched from wing to wing, they enjoyed plenty of possession but their use of it in the final third was, for the most part, woeful.
The game was there to be won by Spurs as they emerged for the second period in a more positive frame of mind. The longer the match continued, the better Jermain Defoe played.
The manner in which Birmingham immediately accepted defeat - City's attempts to recover were utterly unconvincing, it was no surprise that once Spurs made the breakthrough they were allowed not just to score a second but also to stroll through what was left of the game.