FC Midtjylland 0 Man City 1 (aet; 1-1 on agg; MC win 4-2 on pens): Hart saves day for fortunate City

Manchester City had their goalkeeper Joe Hart to thank as they fortuitously progressed to the Uefa Cup first round with a penalty shoot-out victory here in the qualifying round yesterday. Having lost 1-0 to the Danish side in the first leg at Eastlands, City knew the size of their task at the SAS Arena here.

But after an abject display in normal time it was only an own goal by the defender Danny Califf in the 90th minute which forced extra time and extended their interest in the competition. And when Hart saved two penalties in the shoot-out, it was left to Vedran Corluka to stroke home the kick to spare City's blushes.

"The nerves are fine for now," Corluka said after the game. "It was really tough but we worked hard and deserved the goal. We deserved the win tonight. But they missed some really good chances before the end and God gave us this lucky goal. We were lucky tonight. It is not easy but I think this win will be very good for us and give the fans some joy."

City, who reached the preliminary stages by virtue of their position in last season's Fair Play league, had faced a stern test against a well-organised and dynamic counter-attacking side and were clearly the poorer of the two teams for the majority of the game, as they laboured devoid of creative ideas while Jonas Borring ran the show for the hosts. Hart remained the busier goalkeeper and was forced into action to clear the danger on the edge of his area after Mikkel Thygesen was through on goal beyond the flat-footed City defence.

The goal City needed came from nothing when Ched Evans failed to connect properly with Michael Ball's cross and the ball was deflected past the despairing goalkeeper Lasse Heinze by defender Califf.

Extra time began without incident until the 96th minute, when Daniel Sturridge expertly put Michael Johnson through on goal, only for the midfielder to see his effort saved by the advancing Heinze. In the second half Gheorge Florescu struck a powerful shot but Hart got down to hold on to the ball.

Hart was forced to tip the ball over the bar when the substitute Frank Kristensen shot on the turn in the 117th minute, but penalties beckoned as neither side produced a winning goal.

Evans took the first and scored while Martin Petrov converted his but after Winston Reid and Christopher Poulsen also scored, Johnson saw Heinze dive to save his spot-kick. Borring also saw his saved, however, before Dietmar Hamann's kick beat the goalkeeper. Hart then gave his side the advantage when Kolja Afriyie had his kick saved and Corluka converted his kick to send Mark Hughes' side through.

FC Midtjylland: Heinze; Afriyie, Califf, Reid, Poulsen, Florescu, Salami, Olsen (Kristensen, 88), Borring, Thygesen (Madsen, 78), Nworuh (Babantude, 66). Substitutes not used: Raska, Christensen, Ipsa, Flinta.

Manchester City: Hart; Ben-Haim (Hamann, 58), Richards, Dunne, M Ball, Corluka, Johnson, Ireland, Petrov, Elano (Sturridge, 57), Jo (Evans, 80). Substitutes not used: Schmeichel (gk), Garrido, Gelson, Caicedo.

Referee: R Malek (Poland).

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