UEFA Cup - Given saves put City through

Eurosport - Fri, 20 Mar 10:20:00 2009

Shay Given kept alive Manchester City's UEFA Cup dreams in Denmark with two exceptional penalty shoot-out saves after Aalborg's two late goals took the game to extra-time.

FOOTBALL Shay Given makes the crucial penalty save for Manchester City against Aalborg - 0

The Irish goalkeeper saved first from Thomas Augustinussen and then from Luton Shelton as all of City's players found the target to earn a quarter-final spot for Mark Hughes's team.

City had looked to be cruising into the last eight before an 85th-minute strike from Shelton and an injury-time penalty by Michael Jakobsen sent the match in to extra-time.

The first hour of the match passed relatively quietly, with City keeping their hosts at bay with ease and creating enough of their own chances to suggest that they would make it through at a canter.

Shaun Wright-Phillips looked in impressive form, tormenting Aalborg down the right flank and setting up early chances for Stephen Ireland and Ched Evans on two and 16 minutes.

Aalborg seemed content to sit back and hit speculative long balls up the pitch, all of which seemed easy pickings for a sharp-looking City defence.

And when Wright-Phillips again began to threaten in the second half - first making a great run on the hour mark, and hitting the crossbar on 82 minutes - it never looked like it would be anything but a quiet finish to the match.

Yet a penalty shout for Aalborg on 61 minutes had given them a huge injection of fighting spirit: Javier Garrido's tackle on Andreas Johansson certainly looked like it should have earned the hosts a spot kick, but the only thing they received was a yellow card for Kasper Risgard for protesting too vehemently.

But while Aalborg looked a much better side in the final 25 minutes they never looked like breaking through.

Yet with five minutes to go, Shelton got on the end of a cross from the right hand side when it was nodded down to him by Caca: the former Sheffield United man controlled the ball off his chest - and possibly his left arm, from the looks of the replay - before firing a right-foot shot past Given.

It seemed too little too late, but when Evans handled brainlessly from a corner in the 90th minute the referee had no option but to point to the spot - and Jakobsen smashed the penalty home to send the match in to extra-time.

Extra time passed with tired legs and speculative long balls, the only meaningful chance being Shelton's header on 102 minutes that missed the target wide to the left.

That only left Given to take centre stage - and secure City's place in the last-eight of the competition.

Toby Keel / Eurosport

Comment 22 - 41 of 41

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  1. man city could of finished the game of with one goal­ and they didnt....allborg netted two goals in from the­ last 10 minutes which was brillant and its a shame that­ allborg didnt score on extra time but what a signing­ shay given is to city

    From Paul T, on Fri 20 Mar 12:20PM

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    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Fri 20 Mar 11:52AM

  3. All Man City needed was 1 goal and they couldn't do­ that. A multi billion pound club and players they have­ and had to rely on a irish man to save them, typical.

    From paul1gibson2007, on Fri 20 Mar 10:30AM

  4. hmmm, CAPSLOCK,
    there is no money in the Uefa cup. For­ money city would have been better beating Forest but­ Hughes has failed.
    Uefa is purely prestige and a name­ stamp in the history books.

    From paul g, on Fri 20 Mar 10:05AM

  5. FULL CREDIT TO MR. GIVEN.
    HE MAY COST MAN,CITY A LOT OF­ MONEY IN WAGES, BUT HE PUT CITY THROUGH TO THE NEXT­ ROUND
    WHICH WILL BRING MONEY TO THE CLUB, AND MAYBE A­ TROPHY.
    NICE TO HEAR SOME GOOD NEWS ABOUT CITY.
    HERE IN­ MANCHESTER WE ARE SICK ALL THE NEWS ABOUT SIR ALEX.

    From STEVEN W, on Fri 20 Mar 10:01AM

  6. Emma E -- that Danish side put 2 past Manchester United­ at Old Trafford a few months ago. They are a decent­ side.
    Draw in 1 hour... just dont need Bremen at the­ moment.

    From paul g, on Fri 20 Mar 9:53AM

  7. This has shown that in football anything is possible.­ It is not finished until the last whistle. Who can­ believe that the Danish team can draw the match to an­ extra time. Manchester City are fortunate to triuph in­ the penalty shootout that ensued.

    From Emma, on Fri 20 Mar 9:37AM

  8. so shytty went through eh made it hard work for­ themselves, i reckno shytty will win the whole­ competition

    From Norman, on Fri 20 Mar 9:06AM

  9. yet, Hughes is in fact doing something right, it seems.­ The facilities are cleaner, the grass at the training­ ground is the UEFA standard 15mm long, the walls of the­ meeting room are the correct shade of grey and the­ carpets... oooooo.. the carpets all have the circle­ star logo of the EU on them.
    Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen­ has HIS job on the line/

    From paul g, on Fri 20 Mar 8:51AM

  10. hmm 1special1.. "it's not a language it is a­ desease". Interesting choice of attack.. ­ Slagging someone off for their language and then miss­ spelling disease. I admire your courage for using such­ an intellectual and subtle form of abuse but Im not­ sure everyone on this board will understand your use of­ irony...

    From guidedog, on Fri 20 Mar 8:48AM

  11. seeking1special1 -- that was the funniest ending to a­ 'language' rant. Well done, you trevor.

    I­ agree with Steven, Hughes lack of tactics, organisation­ and structure on the pitch is becoming more and more­ apparent even for the neutral. Hughes will turn the­ club into a Blackburn, no offense, with second rate­ players who he likes.
    Robinho is being wasted, SWP is­ wasted, Ireland is wasted and its about time someone at­ the club got hold of the best england prospect,­ Johnson, and gets him playing football again.

    From paul g, on Fri 20 Mar 8:36AM

  12. I dont understand why a team bursting at the seams with­ talent has to struggle consistently. Whilst I like­ Hughes, I think he is out of his depth and needs to be­ replaced if City are to go anywhere. Money can buy you­ players, but only a clever tactical manager can get the­ best value from them

    From Rob, on Fri 20 Mar 7:50AM

  13. up the irish

    From Joseph, on Fri 20 Mar 7:36AM

  14. Shafster comment 20 has a good point and Arsenal have­ been a foriegn team for a long time

    From scollinsengineering, on Fri 20 Mar 6:53AM

  15. Manchester City are lucky to have a goalkeeper like­ given

    From Nath, on Fri 20 Mar 6:41AM

  16. king Billy second again in a two horse race hahaha

    From paulbottomley10, on Fri 20 Mar 6:20AM

  17. king billy is a @#$% , stick to watching you scottish­ @#$% .

    From Neil, on Fri 20 Mar 6:08AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    City are a joke. according to the bookies, City are­ Favourites for the Uefa Cup... hahahahahahahahaha

    From King_Billy, on Fri 20 Mar 4:09AM

  19. Aalborg are @#$%-Istanbul her we come,Oops forgot to­ mention the numpty who said blah blah blah-2-2 at Old­ Trafford,took the point to get to the Uefa Cup.City 2-2­ knocked them on their erses out of the Uefa Cup HAHAHA

    From Freelance, on Fri 20 Mar 3:59AM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    No, actually donneysbeck - you're neither retarded­ nor adult - just incredibly sad and lonely if this is­ how you get your kicks :(

    From miguel b, on Fri 20 Mar 2:04AM
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