Garry O'Connor is brought on to repalace Zarate in a time wasting change.

Three minutes of stoppage time will be played.

A great chance for Fernandes to give Man City a life line goes begging as he blasts a shot miles over the bar.

Elano's ball into the box is brilliantly claimed by Taylor as Birmingham continue to hold onto their lead.

It really hasn't been Man City's day today, as Fernandes' shot is easily saved by Taylor.

Elano's free kick is crucially headed away by Larsson as Birmingham edge towards a crucial three points.

Larsson breaks through the middle before finding Zarate, but his cross avades everyone in the penalty area and the attack results in nothing.

You would have to think it is game over now, unless Man City can score very quickly to get themselves back in it.

That seemed a very harsh penalty decision, but Birmingham will take anything that is put their way in their bid for survival.

Zarate leads a rare Birmingham attack and manages to win a penalty after being brought down in the area.

Another of the substitutes, Caicedo, tests Taylor this time with a long range shot - they are getting plenty of chances now and will fancy their chances on levelling things up.

Geovanni's impact is almost immediate as he fires a shot at goal, which Taylor manages to hold onto.

Elano is getting lots of the ball now, as he lays the ball into the path of Jihai who loses possession at the crucial moment.

A brilliant run by Caicedo as Man City search for an equaliser is brought to a hault crucially by Jaidi.

Forssell wins another long ball, but no one can latch onto his header and Birmingham fail to hold the ball up front.

The home side are under pressure now, as an Elano cross is cleared well by Jaidi - it's a different game entirely now.

Birmingham will kick themselves if they don't get all three points, they have been by far the better side and can't afford to throw it away.

Jaidi intercepts play brilliantly before leading a Birmingham attack which is brought to a hault by Dunne who tackles Forssell at the crucial moment.

Muamba goes some way to making up for his mistake, by sliding in well on Fernandes to prevent a Man City break away.

Man City were dead and buried at 2-0, now they are sensing a point and are seeming much more confident now.

It was Muamba's mistake that has cost the home side really, it was a very strange back pass which was extremely under hit.

Fabrice Muamba's awful back pass finds Benjani clear on goal, before he is brought down by Queudrue who concedes a penalty.

Manchester City exchange thier highest succession of passes so far, but they fail to get anywhere and Birmingham win back the ball.

Forssell has been very influential for the home side day, he has won everything in the air against Dunne and Onuoha.

Forssell's flick on almost finds the goalscorer Zarate, but the ball runs into the arms of Hart and the attack breaks down.

McSheffrey wins the ball off Dunne, but having got it he proceeds to run the ball out of play and undo his hard work.

It's a reasonably quiet start to the second half, a contrast to the explosive start to the first half.

When the teams met at Eastlands earlier in the season, it was the a strike from Elano which seperated the two sides in a victory for Man City.

Man City will take heart from the fact that they are only trailing by the one goal, they are very much still in this game despite being dominated in the first half.

Muamba has his first shot on target of the game, but it is a tame effort and is easily saved by Hart.

The Birmingham crowd is electric now, Man City will be happy to get themselves in at the break only behind by one goal.

There can be no arguments that they fully deserve that, they have been by far the better side so far.

Controversey now as Hart in the Man City goal appears to handle the ball outside the area, only for the referee to wave play on.

McSeffrey exchanges passes with Zarate before the latter attempts a curling effort on goal only to see his effort fly high and wide off target - that was never going in.

If Birmingham are to win this game, they may have to score twice because they have only managed to keep a clean sheet on three occasions this season.

Alex McLeish will wonder how his side aren't winning this game, whereas Sven-Goran Eriksson will be preying to get his team in level at the break.

Yet another chance for the home side as Franck Queudrue's acrobatic over head kick is brilliantly saved by Joe Hart.

Birmingham come close again, with Dunne almost scoring an own goal after an excellent cross from Larsson. The ball ends up on the roof of the net though and another chance goes begging.

Johnson's menacing long ball is cut out brilliantly by Hamann with his head and the danger is cleared.

Birmingham have to take chances like that if they are to start winning games, that could be the difference between going down or not.

Best chance of the game falls to McSheffrey inside the penalty area after a mistake by Richard Dunne. But he blasts the ball over the bar and wastes a great opportunity.

Despite starting the game on top, Birmingham are looking to avoid a fifth successive defeat against Manchester City.

Just after Birmingham give the ball away, Ireland's through ball is to Vassell is again cut out well by Taylor in the Birmingham goal. The away side are getting more of the ball now.

Dietmar Hamann is starting to pull the strings in midfield, his through ball looking for Elano is only just cut out by Maik Taylor.

It's important for the home side that they score while they are on top here, otherwise they may live to regret it.

Great chance for Birmingham as they hit Man City on the counter attack, as Larsson cuts the ball across to Muamba who has his effort deflected behind by Sun Jihai.

From the resulting free kick, Larsson's effort goes straight into the wall and is eventaully cleared by Ireland.

Ireland brings down Damien Johnson which presents Larsson with a great opportunity to strike the ball at goal.

Manchester City are still chasing a place in Europe for next season, which is remarkable considering they have only won twice on the road all season.

It's a corner from McSheffrey this time which finds Jaidi again, who sees his header cleared superbly off the line - Birmingham are getting closer and closer to opening the scoring.

McSheffrey ends up taking the free kick, which is nicely played into the path of Jaidi who just fails to get a shot away.

Darius Vassell brings down Stephen Kelly as Birmingham threaten again - it's another chance for Larsson to whip a good ball in.

Neat passing from Birmingham ends with a poor final ball from Radhi Jaidi which ends the attack - a waste of a good move there.

Sebastian Larsson whips a free kick into the area, which finds the head of Forssell, but the former Chelsea man concedes a free kick and the attack breaks down. Excellent ball in from Larsson though.

The pace of this game is electric so far, end to end stuff which maybe needs an early goal to settle it down.

Fabrice Muamba loses the ball to Blumer Elano who capitalises by threading a ball through to Benjani Mwaruwari who sees his shot strike the post - Muamba was lucky to get away with that.

Mauro Matias Zarate bursts his way through on goal, but the through ball is just over hit and the ball goes out for a free kick - great start from the home side though.

It's a lively start to the game, the crowd are loud and everything is set up for a decent game of football.

Fantastic through ball by Franck Queudrue falls to Mikael Forssell in the box, but the striker fails to find the target with his effort - he should have done better there.

Early corner for Birmingham is taken by Gary McSheffrey and is cleared by Gelson Fernandes as the home side look to start the game well.

If they do manage to get a win, it will be only their fifth home victory of the season. A statistic which signals why they are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table.

This really is a must win game for Birmingham in their fight against relegation, it's a game they will look at and see a potential three points.