The outcome was to be expected and, while the performance was improved, Aitor Karanka’s position as Middlesbrough manager remains on shaky ground.
This FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City wasn’t so much about the result for the under-pressure boss - although a victory would have helped his cause - but more the reaction of a group of players and supporters who appeared to have given up on the Spaniard during the feeble 2-0 defeat at Stoke seven days earlier.
Owner Steve Gibson is keeping his options open and would no doubt prefer to keep faith with Karanka, but another dispirited display such as the one in the Potteries might well have triggered a change.