Man City were shocked in the Uefa Cup, going down 1-0 to FC Midtjylland at Eastlands.
Olsen goal proves difference
Manchester City have it all to do to stay in the Uefa Cup after going down 1-0 to Danish outfit FC Midtjylland at Eastlands on Thursday night.
City started slowly and Danny Olsen deservedly put the visitors in front on 15 minutes following a well-worked move after Richard Dunne had lost the ball.
But Daniel Sturridge hit the bar for City shortly before half-time, as did Martin Petrov with a lofted free-kick in the 76th minute.
But the visitors deserved their win and City now must travel to Denmark in two weeks time and get a result in the second leg of this second round qualifier to get into first round of the competition proper.
City had gone into the game on the back of a decent win against AC Milan in a friendly but for long periods they looked like a team of strangers.
Silenced
The sparse crowd were stunned into silence when Midtjylland took the lead following a mistake by skipper Dunne. He lost possession to Jonas Borring and he showed a good first touch as the Danes quickly got men forward.
Borring released Mikkel Thygesen, who played the ball into Olsen and he rattled a shot into the corner to give them what could prove to be a vital away goal.
Petrov, however, almost grabbed the equaliser in the 21st minute when he broke clear only to see his chip clear the bar.
Midtjylland were playing with the confidence of a side at the top of their league, albeit after only four games.
Sturridge, though, gave City a glimmer of hope in the 34th minute when he cut inside but scuffed his effort wide of the post. But he almost grabbed the equaliser two minutes before the break after being set up by Felipe Caicedo but his effort to come back off the underside of the bar.
City started the second half brightly and Elano picked out Petrov at the back post after 50 minutes. However he snatched at his shot and failed to test Lasse Heinze, his effort going high over the bar.
Dictate
City, however, were beginning to dictate the pace and Petrov and Elano both went close in quick succession. Hughes then made his first change in the 63rd minute when Valeri Bojinov replaced Caicedo.
Midtjylland, however, continued to look dangerous on the break with neither Dunne or Tal Ben Haim looking that comfortable.
City almost went 2-0 down in the 72nd minute after a wayward header from Dunne but Petrov cleared off the line. However they hit back and almost equalised six minutes later only for Petrov's superb free-kick to come back off the bar.
Bojinov then turned quickly in the area but his sent his effort over the bar and City now face a difficult second leg in Denmark in a fortnight.
| Manchester City |
Team Statistics |
FC Midtjylland |
| 0 |
Goals |
1 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 9 |
Shots off Target |
2 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 4 |
Corners |
4 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
19 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 75.1 |
Passing Success |
62.5 |
| 24 |
Tackles |
25 |
| 83.3 |
Tackles Success |
84 |
| 60.3 |
Possession |
39.7 |
| 53.4 |
Territorial Advantage |
46.6 |
|
