McLeish hails Zarate as Birmingham's Tevez

Supporters at St Andrew's took his words with a pinch of salt. And who could blame them?

Here was an untested 20-year-old Argentine, signed from a Qatari club, vowing to ride into a relegation fight and pluck Alex McLeish to safety.

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On Saturday, however, he did exactly that. Two finishes of the highest quality propelled Birmingham to a victory that may prove vital on May 11.

The diminutive striker drew comparison with Carlos Tevez from his manager at the final blast of the hapless Rob Styles' whistle — and with Lionel Messi from one of his team-mates.

However, with a £10million price tag loaded on to him by his club, Al-Sadd, the chances of him staying in this part of the world are minimal.

"He lit the place up today," said McLeish, who is justifiably proud of the fact he beat Tottenham and Newcastle to sign Zarate. "He made a slow start. And he was captivating after that. They were two superb finishes. The Qataris paid $20m for him but with performances like that he is looking a good prospect.

"When I signed him, I had in mind the effect Tevez had for West Ham. The difference is that Tevez was already a recognised international player. You saw how long it took him to settle in. That's why I didn't throw Mauro in earlier. We knew he wasn't ready.

"I saw him play in the World Youth Championships and I looked at our squad — we didn't have James McFadden then — and I asked myself whether he could go ahead of players with Premier League experience. What I liked about him was his ability on the ball. I like players who can make a difference.

"Performances like that will make it very difficult for us to hang on to him but I hope he has a future in the Premier League because he loves his football and he's a great kid."

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Zarate's team-mate Franck Queudrue, who was making a decent fist of returning at centre half until Styles' red card brought his involvement to a premature end, added: "He is talented. I don't know if he is right-footed or left-footed. He can strike with both feet. And that's what you need.

"If you look at his style, he looks a bit like Messi at Barcelona. He's only a kid and now he's going to get a run in the team.

"You will see the best of him now. If he keeps banging goals in, he will be a key player."

The Frenchman was at the heart of the incident that almost turned this match on its head.

Sven Goran Eriksson's visitors looked like they would rather be anywhere other than at St Andrew's scrapping for points when Fabrice Muamba inadvertently turned the ball towards his own goal.

Benjani was loitering the wrong side of Queudrue but with the defender's arm across his shoulder there was sufficient contact for the forward to go down.

Styles, standing fully 40 yards away, awarded a penalty and dismissed Queudrue.

Keeper Maik Taylor said: "The ref sent Radhi Jaidi off first and then changed his mind because he didn't know who made the tackle. The fact there are two defenders there and he doesn't know which one made the tackle shows it wasn't a professional foul."

Not content with that controversy, Styles followed it up with a decision that even Eriksson branded "crazy."

Sun Jihai's shoulder charge with Gary McSheffrey was not even a foul, let alone a penalty but McSheffrey kept his nerve from 12 yards.

Eriksson said: "This is the most frustrated I've been this season. We should be able to play better football than we did. That's why I'm so disappointed."