City slickers’ shoot-out victory spot on for delighted Sparky

MANCHESTER CITY boss Mark Hughes was delighted to celebrate “a positive day all round” after seeing his side qualify for the UEFA Cup first round with a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over FC Midtjylland last night.

Fri, 29 Aug, 2008 - 01:00

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 Danish side and were clearly the poorer of the two teams for the majority of the game.

City knew the size of the task ahead in their second qualifying round return leg at the SAS Arena in Herning, having lost 1-0 in the first leg at Eastlands earlier this month.

But after an abject display in normal time it was only an own goal by defender Danny Califf in the 89th minute which forced extra-time and extended their interest in the competition.

And when keeper Joe Hart saved two penalties in the shoot-out, it was left to Vedran Corluka to stroke home the kick to spare City’s blushes.

Hughes admitted his side had been frustrated for much of the encounter but insisted the outcome was what mattered.

“It was difficult for us but we’ve got through so it has been a positive day all round,” he said.

“After an hour’s play I thought we upped our energy levels and our play was more progressive.

“From that point onwards, through extra-time, there was only one team that looked like they were going to nick it.

“But we’ll take the result, It doesn’t matter how we go through. It’s a bit of a lottery with penalties but we’re delighted we’ve overcome this hurdle.”

Meanwhile, Craig Gardner believes Aston Villa are well placed for a UEFA Cup run after they confirmed their place in the knockout stages with a 5-2 aggregate win over FC Hafnarfjordur.

Gardner put Villa ahead on the night before the Icelandic visitors equalised to claim a 1-1 draw at Villa Park.

However, midfielder Gardner believes Villa can only improve with the likes of Ashley Young and Stiliyan Petrov on the bench and Gabriel Agbonlahor being replaced after an hour. Gardner said: “We’ve got a great chance. We’ve got them all to get back in and we’ve got a great chance at the next stage.

“We got through to the next round. It was like a cup final to them. But we are through and that is the main thing.”