AaB Aalborg 2 0 Manchester City City wi

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Result on the night: AaB Aalborg 2  0 Manchester CityResult on aggregate: AaB Aalborg 2  2 Manchester CityManchester City win 4  3 on penaltiesA fortunate Man City edged through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, where they will meet Hamburg SV, following an underwhelming and tedious, yet at the same time thoroughly enthralling and gripping, contest against AaB Aalborg. Leading 2  0 from the first leg, it seemed as though City would coast through to the next round, and this looked the case until the 84th minute of the match, when the Danish sidescored to reduce arrears and then converted a last-minute penalty to send the tie into extra time. Following 30 uneventful minutes, penalties ensued and with City scoring every one, and with Shay Given making a couple of fantastic stops, the Blues advanced.Vincent Kompany doesnt quite grasp the idea of tackling, as he bows on one knee to let the Aalborg player advanceTeam NewsBlues bo s Mark Hughes was able to call upon the services of the returning Vincent Kompany to bolster the midfield after his long-standing toe injury, although Dutch hard-man Nifty Nige de Jong  Janne Kuokkanen Men Jersey was ineligible for this match. Kompany replaced Brazilian star Elano in the starting line-up as Hughes opted for a defensive minded set-up. Stephen Superman Ireland shrugged off an injury doubt to line up in the starting eleven, while Ched Evans took the place of Ecuadorian battering-ram Felipe Caicedo.The visitors were without the suspended Thomas Enevoldsen, and handed starts to former Wigan midfielder Anders Johan son, the man with a name ideally suited to puns: Anders Due, and balloon-man Luton Shelton. Their centre-back from the first leg, Michael Jacobsen, was moved out to left-back to cope with the threat posed from Shaun Wright-Phillips, whilst Siyabonga Nomvethe, a South African international midfielder, was named on the bench.Penalty hero Shay Given oozes confidence as he comes to collect a cro sReportThe first half started, and 46 minutes later, it ended, with only a shot by Ched Evans keeping viewers awake. I apologise for the brevity of the first-half report, but in truth, nowt actually happened. This was the same case in the second-half as well, until the 84th minute when the home side revitalised the tie. Before this though, January signing Wayne Bridge was forced off with a hamstring injury, and was replaced by Javier Have I Mentioned ThatI Met His Parents? Garrido, who clumsily almost  Lee Stempniak Women Jersey conceded a penalty within seconds of coming on. The referee waved away desperate appeals from the Danish team, although replays showed that Garrido scythed down his man. At the other end of the field, Robinho hit the bar from all of five yards, a chance which should have been buried. That was the only occasion throughout the match that City threatened, a sad  Petr Mrazek Men Jersey indictment of the Blues away form.Upto this point, to describe the match as boring would have been the understatement of the century, but AaB Aalborg added tension to the proceedings with their first goal, courtesy of Luton Shelton. As the ball dropped in the penalty area, the former Sheffield United striker seemed to control it with his hand, turned, and fired the ball into the bottom corner to give hope to the Danes. City, for the first time in the tie, were panicked and the hitherto fantastic Richard Dunne and Nedum Onuoha suddenly looked shaky. As Aalborg piled on the pre sure, one sensed, having watched Cityfor 12 years and seen umpteen typical City moments,that the Blueswere going to concede,and right on cue, in the 91st minute, they did. A corner was whipped in by Caca, and from a near post flick, the ball struck the helple s Ched Evans on the arm, thus gifting the home side a chance to take the tie to extra time.Michael Jacobsen strolled up confidently and smashed the ball into the back of the net, sending the home fans delirious, whilst you could have heard a pin drop amongst the travelling City supporters.Another 30 nail-biting minutes ensued, and Mark Hughes made two changes in this period, bringing on Elano and Felipe Caicedo in place of the fatigued Vincent Kompany and unimpre sive Robinho. Both sides had more than half an eye on the po sibility of a  Jake Gardiner Kids Jersey penalty shootout, so were refusing to throw men forward. Garrido swung over a couple of free-kicks to no avail, and the referee blew his whistle to signal penalties.Robinho was yet again unimpre sive away from homePenaltiesCity captain Richard Dunne clearly won the choice of ends, so opted to have the shootout in front of the City end, whilst Thomas Augustin sen chose to let his side have the first penalty.Aalborg  Jacobsen  SCOREDMan City  Evans  SCOREDAalborg  Johan son  SCOREDMan City  Elano  SCOREDAalborg Augustin sen  SAVED BY GIVENMan City  Wright-Phillips  SCOREDAalborg  Nomvethe  SCOREDMan City  Dunne  SCOREDAalborg  Shelton  SAVED BY GIVENMan City win 4  3Contrasting emotions as City celebrate and Aalborg are left heartbrokenPlayer RatingsGiven  Not in action for 84 minutes, and then helple s for goals, but made himself a hero in the penalty shootout  8Richards  Unconvincing, especially when Aalborg piled on the pre sure. Hardly got forward and is one of the weak points in the team  6Dunne  A tower of strength alongside Onuoha, repelling nearly everything the Danes could throw at him. Scored a cracking penalty  8.5Onuoha  Fantastic all game, and looked a model of concentration and precision  8Bridge Lacked support when defending from Robinho and failed to supply any width when going forward. City looked worse off when he was replaced  7Zabaleta  Tried his hardest and got stuck into his fair share of challenges  7Kompany  Probably rushed back from injury too quickly and is now a doubt for the Sunderland game  7SWP  One of his poorer games, and he seemed tobe operating in a much deeper role than usual  6Ireland  Works his socks off in the centre of the park, but this just wasnt his day. Lacked any end product, although he was carrying an injury  6.5Robinho  What a surprise, he was awful. No work ethic Jake Bean Kids Jersey  and lost the ball numerous times when he should have shown more  5Evans  Better than Caicedo, although thats not too difficult, but lacked killer touch. Had one very wayward shot, but at least he adds a physical presence to the team  7Subs: