Should this defeat be as damaging to Stuart Pearce’s career as many fear — or hope, to judge from the irate reaction of Manchester City’s supporters after the final whistle — the manager will grimace at the fact that it was a player nicknamed “The Axe” who moved him closer to the chop.

Aaron Mokoena may have sullied his first goal in 79 appearances for Blackburn Rovers by being sent off midway through the second half of a tense FA Cup sixth-round tie, but it was talk of another kind of dismissal that reverberated around Ewood Park last night.

Pearce could have been sacked by the time Chelsea visit the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday, but if he has not, defeat by the Barclays Premiership champions, coupled with a loss away to Middlesbrough on Saturday, will probably seal the manager’s fate.

Much of the anger of the 5,000 City fans who had made the short journey to Lancashire was directed at the underperforming players with cries of “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”, but, as Pearce knows, the buck stops with him.

It was not so much the result, as the manner of defeat — City’s players never looked as if they believed that they could win after going behind — that irked supporters, one of whom made a beeline for Pearce late on, only to be hauled off the pitch by stewards. No one wants to see such ugly scenes, but it embodied the frustrations of fans who have grown all too accustomed to acute disappointment.

That frustration extended to the players, with Joey Barton, one of the few to emerge with any credit this season, appearing to bear part of his backside to Blackburn fans in an echo of a similar incident against Everton this season.

After Richard Dunne’s damning prematch assessment of many of City’s foreign imports, Georgios Samaras, DaMarcus Beasley, Hatem Trabelsi, Andreas Isaksson and Emile Mpenza were left on the substitutes’ bench, while Bernardo Corradi — the apparent target for much of the City captain’s dissatisfaction — was lucky that Paul Dickov was not deemed fit enough to play against his former club.

For all of 25 minutes, the decision worked. With Blackburn struggling to put a foot on the ball, let alone gain a foothold in the match, City were the dominant team, enjoying the lion’s share of possession and venturing forward with purpose, if not poise. Barton was given the freedom to bomb on in what is becoming an increasingly familiar five-man midfield.

When Darius Vassell freed Barton down the right, the England midfield player seemed destined to shoot as he drifted into the penalty area. Instead, he crossed for Corradi, but even with Christopher Samba making a hash of a clearance, the Italian was unable to seize upon the opportunity.

City continued to probe, but when Blackburn finally emerged from their slumber, the game changed tack. Matt Derbyshire was the first to serve notice of the home team’s intentions. With Brett Emerton’s measured cross eluding a leaping Micah Richards, Derbyshire took sight of goal, only for his header to fizz over the bar. City did not heed a second warning three minutes later, when Stephen Warnock’s speculative pass bred panic in the visiting team’s defence.

Sylvain Distin cleared only as far as Mokoena, whose miscued shot ricocheted off the hapless Stephen Ireland, allowing the South African to drill the ball across Nicky Weaver. Mokoena would blot his copybook in the 69th minute when he was sent off for a second booking after clumsily wrestling Barton to the ground, but even with ten men Blackburn, who are now unbeaten in six games, were comfortable.

David Bentley had clipped the bar with an audacious chip by then and while a second goal came when Derbyshire swept the ball home after a fine move involving Jason Roberts and Sergio Peter, it never looked as if it would be required.

City did not manage a single shot on target, with Corradi squandering their best chance in the 56th minute when he picked out the advertising hoardings rather than the near corner from Ireland’s cross. No wonder Dunne bemoaned the lack of cutting edge.

An anxious few days await for Pearce.

HOW THEY LINED UP

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): B Friedel — B Emerton, C Samba, R Nelsen (sub: Z Khizanishvili, 46min), S Warnock — D Bentley, A Mokoena, Tugay Kerimoglu (sub: S Peter, 81), M G Pedersen — M Derbyshire, B McCarthy (sub: J Roberts, 85). Substitutes not used: P Enckelman, P Gallagher. Booked: Nelsen, Mokoena, Pedersen, Bentley. Sent off: Mokoena

Manchester City (3-5-2): N Weaver — M Richards, R Dunne, S Distin — Sun Jihai (sub: D Beasley, 58), J Barton, D Hamann (sub: G Samaras, 76), S Ireland, M Ball — B Corradi (sub: E Mpenza, 81), D Vassell. Substitutes not used: A Isaksson, H Trabelsi. Booked: Barton, Hamann, Dunne, Richards

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