BELEAGUERED Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce was handed a lifeline as his players snatched a precious Premiership victory at Middlesbrough.

The former England international, who headed for Teesside with his employment prospects far from encouraging, set off home with three points and the cheers of his club's travelling supporters ringing in his ears just days after facing a torrent of abuse at Blackburn.

Sylvain Distin's 61st-minute strike - only the team's second in seven league games - and Emile Mpenza's first for the club, 17 minutes from time, ended a run of five successive Premiership defeats and eased the pressure on chairman John Wardle to act.

Gareth Southgate's gamble in leaving Jonathan Woodgate and Mark Viduka out of his starting line-up ahead of tomorrow night's FA Cup quarter-final replay at Manchester United backfired spectacularly.

A large proportion of the 26,427 spectators had long gone by the time of the final whistle, but those who were left made their feelings abundantly clear with an injury to Emanuel Pogatetz adding to their woes.

Distin's goal came when Middlesbrough failed to deal with a Joey Barton corner, allowing the defender to control Mpenza's headed ball across the box and slam it home. The points were then secure when the impressive Barton slid the ball in to Mpenza, whose instinctive finish sent the travelling fans into raptures.