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Hart's heroics save Man City's day

Midtjylland 0-1 Manchester City (agg: 1-1 aet, City win 4-2 on pens)
Goalkeeper Joe Hart was the City hero as his two shoot-out saves earned Mark Hughes's Premier League side a place in Friday's first round draw.

Team-mates congratulate Joe Hart (right) after his match-winning saves
Team-mates congratulate Joe Hart (right) after his match-winning saves ©Getty Images

Goalkeeper Joe Hart was Manchester City FC's hero as his two penalty shoot-out saves earned the English Premier League club a place in Friday's UEFA Cup first round draw at the expense of FC Midtjylland.

Own goal
Trailing 1-0 from the home first leg, City were under pressure for long spells in Herning but forced extra time when Ched Evans's glancing header deflected off Danny Califf for an own goal with a minute of regulation time remaining. With no further scoring in the additional 30 minutes, a shoot-out ensued in which Michael Johnson failed for City before Hart kept out attempts from Jonas Borring and Kolja Afriyie, leaving Vedran Ćorluka to send the visitors through.

Midtjylland chances
The away team started slowly despite needing a victory and it was Midtjylland who dominated most of the first half. After seven minutes the unmarked Borring's shot was saved by Hart after he had been set up by Jude Ikechukwu Nworuh's header. Borring threatened again with a 24th-minute volley before Elano tested Midtjylland goalkeeper Lasse Heinze with a left-footed effort. Heinze was also called into action just before the break to stop a Martin Petrov strike.

Babatunde threat
City tried to up the tempo after the restart yet it was the hosts who might have scored through substitute Babajide Collins Babatunde three times in the space of 13 minutes. However, a minute from time, Michael Ball's left-wing cross was deflected by Evans on to Califf and into the net, allowing Hart to then win the day in the shoot-out.