Damien Johnson's stunning goal earned Birmingham a 2-1 victory and their first three points in the Premiership as below-par Leeds slumped to their second shock defeat in the space of 72 hours.

	Damien Johnson, who scored the winner, skips away Alan Smith. (ShaunBotterill/GettyImages)

Johnson curled an unstoppable shot past the despairing dive of Paul Robinson after 58 minutes to give Steve Bruce's side a deserved three points.

And Birmingham's general performance will give them the belief that they can survive in the Premiership, particularly that in the opening 45 minutes.

The Blues fans look to have found a new hero in Senegal captain Aliou Cisse who bossed the middle of the park in partnership with Robbie Savage.

Cisse was a non-stop ball of energy for 90 minutes and has effortlessly adjusted to life in the Premiership after his move from Paris St Germain.

Savage was his usual terrier-like self and Leeds struggled to gain any control in midfield for long periods.

Up front Stern John was a constant threat with his skill and Devlin was a handful on the right flank.

Terry Venables will be desperately disappointed with his side's general performance and, as against Sunderland, too many players failed to deliver the goods, with Lee Bowyer one of few players to emerge with much credit.

The early season euphoria created after emphatic wins over Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion will dissolve unless there is a stark improvement.

Birmingham began in impressive fashion with Savage and Cisse making their presence felt in the centre of the park.

Savage caused confusion in the Leeds ranks and created a half chance for Clinton Morrison but he strayed offside before shooting into the side netting.

Leeds were struggling to move out of their own half in the opening phase and Mark Viduka was yellow carded for a challenge on Darren Purse.

Robinson was called into action to hold onto a low effort from Morrison after he had turned Erik Bakke and seized onto a low centre from Paul Devlin.

Just as Leeds looked to be surviving the storm, the home side broke the deadlock after 31 minutes with a stunning strike from Devlin.

Martin Grainger played a one-two with Savage from the first corner of the game before finding Devlin in space some 20 yards out.

The former Sheffield United player needed no second invitation and his low first time effort flew past the despairing dive of Robinson into the corner of the net.

It was no more than Blues deserved, with Leeds struggling to stem the tide in midfield, and their frustration was evident with Bakke and Bowyer booked in quick succession.

But a side of their quality is always going to create chances and twice Blues were saved by the woodwork in the closing stages of the first 45 minutes.

Viduka found himself with only Nico Vaesen to beat after being played in by Harry Kewell and his chip clipped the far post.

Then, in first half injury time, Kewell tried his luck from 20 yards out and Vaesen was relieved to see his shot thunder against the crossbar.

With Devlin and Johnson also yellow-carded, it meant that five players had been cautioned in the first 45 minutes.

Leeds came out with more purpose for the second period and they needed only five minutes to get back on level terms.

A slick move involving Viduka and Smith ended with the ball being threaded through to Bowyer and he kept his composure before slotting the ball past Vaesen.

But Birmingham showed they are made of strong stuff and after 58 minutes they regained the lead through a superb goal from Johnson.

The midfielder played a one-two on the edge of the area with Stern John and curled an unstoppable shot past Robinson into the corner of the net.

Venables' response was to bring on Olivier Dacourt in place of Bakke to try and bolster his hard-pressed midfield.

But it was Birmingham who came close to adding to their lead after some trickery from John.

He turned Bowyer inside out on the touchline before picking out Savage with a low cross to the near post.

The former Leicester player should have at least hit the target but he completely miskicked.