Blackburn beat Leicester to heap pressure on Cifuentes

Marti Cifuentes took charge of Leicester in the summer

Taunts were aimed at under-pressure Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes after the Foxes were beaten by lowly Blackburn Rovers at the King Power Stadium.

Two goals from Andri Gudjohnsen either side of half-time consigned the Foxes to a third straight defeat and brought boos from the stands at full-time.

Stephy Mavididi's needless finish from an offside position, when a header from Jannik Vestergaard appeared to have been on its way home, added to the hosts' frustrations as they had an early opener ruled out.

The angst among Foxes supporters only got worse as Gudjohnsen slotted home from six yards, after being teed up by a deflected block by Leicester's Boubakary Soumare, to put Blackburn ahead in the 20th minute.

The Iceland international went on to double Rovers' lead just after the hour mark with another cool close-range finish after some excellent work from Ryan Alebiosu.

Victory at Leicester means Valerien Ismael's Blackburn side have won successive matches for the first time this season, having beaten another of the recently relegated Premier League clubs in Southampton a week earlier.

This triumph moves Rovers up to 19th in the table and to within four points of faltering Leicester.

A dismal run of just one win from eight games, which included back-to-back losses leading up to Rovers' visit, made this nostalgic clash of former Premier League champions a vitally important one for a Foxes side that set out this season to make an immediate return to the top flight.

With Leicester having now collected just eight points from the 27 on offer since the start of September, the growing disquiet among Foxes supporters become somewhat deafening in this game as the fanbase questioned if boss Cifuentes is the right man for the job.

Chants of "Marti, Marti sort it out" could be heard when the Foxes found themselves a goal down in the first half after a frustrating start from the hosts.

And by the end of the match, the players themselves were jeered with "you're not fit to wear the shirt".

Mavididi, making his first start since September after returning from a hamstring injury, had an early close-range effort deflected over before quickly going on to find the back of the net.

But it was a finish that seemingly cost Leicester the lead, as the winger was flagged for offside when he directed an already goalbound header from Vestergaard beyond Balazs Toth when the Blackburn goalkeeper looked beaten.

Andri Gudjohnsen has scored three goals in his last two appearances for Blackburn

There was also a sense of misfortune when Leicester went behind as Gudjohnsen pounced on a low Dion De Neve cross that was inadvertently directed into the Iceland international's path by Soumare.

Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk did well to keep Yuki Ohashi from adding a second soon after, while both Mavididi and Jordan James sent efforts over at the other end as the Foxes searched for a first-half leveller.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman was unmarked when he wastefully sent an effort over the bar as Blackburn could and perhaps should have made it 2-0 early in the second half.

Leicester's response was a tame one as Blackburn eventually doubled their advantage through Gudjohnsen.

What remained of the match was played to the soundtrack of sporadic boos aimed at Foxes players and their manager.

'No hiding' for Foxes as Rovers earn 'statement' win - reaction

Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester:

"It was definitely a poor performance, there is no hiding from that.

"There is more in this group of players, I'm sure, and we now need a reaction. I understand that we cannot keep waiting. I expect much more from them.

"When a club like Leicester is in the Championship, the expectation is that they are always at the top. And at the moment we are not achieving those standards.

"It's very hard as a manager to come into a place that I knew would be a difficult situation. But I do believe in my strength and quality as a manager, and do believe in the club project.

"I'm aware as well that this would not be easy and that it would not be quick. But we do have to get better, there are no excuses or hiding. We need to raise our standards."

Blackburn Rovers boss Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"Today is a big win, a statement in the performance – especially in the second half.

"A clean sheet away at Leicester is exactly what you need to and dream of if you are to have that statement win.

"It's something we can build on with the players. It will give us that confidence, and this is the win that we were missing at the beginning of the season."