Eriksson famously chose to take Theo Walcott rather than Defoe to Germany – and Defoe gained some sort of revenge at White Hart Lane.

With Spurs’ top scorer Robbie Keane out for another two matches through suspension, he also offered head coach Juande Ramos an indication he is ready to step in.

The victory left City furious as they thought Spurs’ opener was illegal.

Pascal Chimbonda looked offside when he broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time and even if it was not a punch that would have troubled City fan Ricky Hatton, the full-back did appear to use his arm.

Rolando Bianchi came off the bench to level matters in the second half but hopes of victory faded when Stephen Ireland was given a straight red card for a lunge on Young-Pyo Lee.

Defoe’s winner came a minute later in the 83rd minute.

To rub salt in the wound, City knew they would have been back in the top four of the Barclays Premier League with a point.

But they were without the influence of Elano, the Brazil playmaker having failed to recover from a hamstring complaint, so their creativity came from Martin Petrov on the left wing.

Petrov’s delivery from the flank went some way to explain why Dimitar Berbatov wanted his Bulgaria team-mate at White Hart Lane this summer.

However, with £8.8million striker Bianchi on the bench, Petrov only had Darius Vassell to aim for initially, giving Younes Kaboul time to settle after getting dropped for the midweek UEFA Cup clash against Anderlecht.

However, the young French defender’s passing range was awful, and he was nowhere to be seen for City’s equaliser.

At the other end, Darren Bent was wasteful. Berbatov’s silky touches sent Bent through on goal in the ninth minute but Andreas Isaksson rushed out to save with his feet.

Javier Garrido picked up a booking for tripping Aaron Lennon, and from the resulting attack Berbatov was on the floor but managed to clip the ball through to Bent. He snatched at his shot with Jermaine Jenas waiting with an open goal in front of him.

Berbatov was full of invention, drilling a cross for Steed Malbranque to sweep a shot towards goal but Richard Dunne got himself in the way of the effort.

City showed pace on the break when Kelvin Etuhu, making his first start for the club, smashed into the side-netting, while Michael Johnson was patrolling the midfield area with authority on his return to action.

The opener came on the stroke of half-time, with Berbatov getting fouled on the touchline by a combination of Gelson Fernandes and Vedran Corluka. Jenas drilled the corner, Berbatov flicked and Chimbonda angered City with the finish off his arm – he also appeared to be standing in an offside position.

Eriksson responded by bringing on Bianchi for Etuhu just before the hour mark, with the substitute making an instant impact.

Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson would have been braced for a busy spell but he also had time to banter with the City fans, who dubbed him “England’s number four” after his recent troubles at international level.

He could do nothing about Bianchi’s equaliser, the Italian striker rising to thump home a header from Petrov’s corner.

City were putting Spurs under intense pressure and Lee had to make a last-ditch clearance from another Petrov cross. Petrov also fizzed a long-range effort just wide.

The game turned when Ireland was given his straight red card by Mark Halsey for a slide on Lee.

Defoe grabbed the winner from the free-kick, with Malbranque curling a cross off the post and the substitute smashing the rebound between Micah Richards’ legs.