Miracle man Keegan achieves stunning fightback

"Yes, we scored three good goals but even in the first half we didn't play with any rhythm. I don't think we deserved to lead 3-0. When we had the chances in the second half we couldn't kill them off. They got the breaks, we didn't.

"The important thing now is how we react. We have to bounce back from this. It'll be a big test for them. I hope the players are going to be self-critical because if they're not, they're the wrong type."

Pleat, of course, is merely holding the fort until a new coach arrives in the summer but at least he will have the benefit this weekend of reinforcing his team against Portsmouth with £7million Jermain Defoe, a bewildered spectator last night.

The former West Ham striker must have wondered exactly what it was he'd let himself in for as City rose from the ashes and clinically dismantled an unsure Tottenham defence that clearly missed the unobtrusive authority of the injured Gary Doherty.

Such considerations, though, looked irrelevant as Spurs eased in front in the second minute with a swerving left-foot shot from Ledley King. Midway through the half, Robbie Keane added a second when he capitalised on a superb pass from Stephen Carr before cleverly clipping his shot over City's young stand-in goalkeeper Arni Arason.

When Christian Ziege beat Arason with a wonderful free-kick just before the interval the tie looked over. And after referee Rob Styles sent off Barton for dissent as the players left the field at half-time - he'd booked him earlier for a high tackle - we were sure it was over. But, how wrong we were.

"In the dressing room at the interval I told the lads that we'd be playing for pride and that I'd be praying for a miracle," said Keegan, whose team had won only one of their previous 18 games.

"It was an incredible comeback and they'll talk about this game long after I've gone. I've never known a Cup tie like it. Maybe miracle is too strong a word but it was a triumph over adversity and the Cup tie of my lifetime.

"My players found something extra within themselves in the second half and that might be the turning point in our season. Our supporters played a big part. They dragged us back into the game.

"Our first-half performance was so poor that I joked to Derek Fazackerley [his assistant]: 'Where's the nearest job centre?' I can't really explain the second half. We didn't have anything going for us when we went back out on the pitch. But if we could play like that regularly no-one would beat us."

Shaun Wright-Phillips - watched by England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson - epitomised the defiance in City's second-half comeback.

He's a little pocket dynamo with his stepfather's enthusiasm for the game. "He did the job of two men," said the City manager. A Sylvain Distin header just after the re-start gave City back a bit of self-respect. A deflected Paul Bosvelt drive then gave them a glimmer of hope in the 61st minute and Wright-Phillips gave them the equaliser with 10 minutes remaining.

It was Jon Macken, a former Manchester United trainee summoned from the bench to replace the injured Nicolas Anelka, who headed the 10 men into the history books with his stoppage-time winner.

At the end Keegan couldn't stop smiling. "You've just seen something very special," he said. He was right but Spurs fans will agree only through gritted teeth.