Premier League strugglers Middlesbrough today announced that they had parted company with manager Aitor Karanka after three and a half years at the club.

The Spaniard had overseen just four wins in 27 Premier League games this term upon their return to the top-flight, and their recent run of poor form has seen them fall into the relegation zone.

Boro have picked up just four points in their last ten league matches, and coupled with a 2-0 defeat in the FA Cup quarter-finals against Manchester City last weekend, the board have taken the decision to relieve the 43-year-old of his duties.

Karanka took over at the Riverside Stadium back in 2013 with the club hovering around mid-table in the Championship, and although his first campaign wasn’t anything to write home about, he led them to play-offs in 2014/15, but they lost 2-0 to Norwich in the final at Wembley.

However, they regrouped and came back stronger the season after to secure second place in the table and thus automatic promotion to the Premier League, ending their seven-year wait for top-flight football at the Riverside.

Despite this, the Boro board clearly feel that Karanka was not the man to keep them in the top tier this season, and so here are THREE games that cost the Spaniard his job at Middlesbrough…

Middlesbrough 0-0 Leicester

Middlesbrough ended 2016 with four defeats in five and were slowly slipping down the Premier League table before the arrival of champions Leicester on New Year’s Day.

And given that Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes had picked up just two points in their eight away games prior to their trip to the Riverside Stadium, this was a real chance for Karanka’s men to get all three points.

But they didn’t in what was a dull, dour game in the North East, with Gaston Ramirez’s penalty miss symptomatic of their struggles in front of goal.

In fact, their ineptitude in the final third in that game was a sign of things to come in 2017, and their overall display against the Foxes mirrors that of what we’ve seen from them since as well.

Middlesbrough 1-3 West Ham

Throughout the season, Middlesbrough have been one of the toughest teams to break down and indeed score against, and that was a chief reason why they remained above the bottom three for so long.

Thus, their 3-1 defeat at home to West Ham on January 21 surely had alarm bells ringing around the Riverside Stadium.

Only twice before that loss had Karanka’s men conceded three goals in a game this term (the others being Everton in September and Liverpool in December), but for it to happen at home against a West Ham side hardly pulling trees down this season must have been of concern to the Boro faithful.

Karanka’s men then kept just one clean sheet in their succeeding five league games under the Spaniard, and combine that with their bluntness going forward, and Boro were seriously struggling.

Middlesbrough 0-2 Manchester City

Ultimately, their 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals last weekend was the last straw for Karanka.

And although there is no disgrace in losing to Pep Guardiola’s side, Middlesbrough were never really in the game.

It was Brad Guzan who they had to thank for keeping them in it for large periods, and although the visitors’ quality shone through in the end, the hosts didn’t do enough during the game going forward, despite there being nothing to lose and a place in the FA Cup semi-finals at stake.

It was a defeat that spelled the end for Karanka after three and a half years at the club.