English clubs had a bitter-sweet night in UEFA Cup action on Thursday as Aston Villa won in Iceland but Manchester City face a tough task to qualify for the first round after a shock loss to FC Midtjyllandat.
City lost 1-0 to a Danny Olsen goal on the quarter-hour and will have to make up that ground in the second leg of their second qualifying round game in Denmark in a fortnight's time.
Aston Villa had a good game at FH Hafnarfjordur in Reykjavik as Gareth Barry, now cup-tied for the Champions League should he move to Liverpool before the transfer deadline in a fortnight, got his name on the scoresheet in their 4-1 win.
City had their chances to win the match however, twice hitting the woodwork through Daniel Sturridge and Martin Petrov.
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.
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes felt his side lacked match fitness.
“Perhaps we were a little bit behind them in terms of sharpness and match fitness but that is no excuse for tonight,” Hughes told ITV4.
“We need to get up to speed before the weekend and hopefully this game will let us know where we are at and what we need to do.
“In the first half we had too many unforced errors and needed to play in their half and not get trapped in our half which is what happened.
“In the second half they put people behind the ball and played on the break which they did very well.
“We needed to be dynamic and more personality and drive the play. Fair play to the opposition though they understand the counter-attack game and executed it well.
“We are short of a few players and are a bit light so we're still in the market for players. The match is only at half-time.”
Meanwhile in Iceland, Barry scored after just four minutes in front of England manager Fabio Capello, making the most of defensive mishaps.
Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor also scored before the break at the Laugardalsvollur Stadium and, although Matthias Gudmundsson pulled one back, Martin Laursen headed the ball home in the second half meaning Martin O'Neill's men should cruise into the second round after the Villa Park fixture in two week's time.
Villa clash with Manchester City in Premiership action on Sunday though O'Neill said: “I could not think at all about the game on Sunday until we had played tonight, but I was very pleased with some of the football we played.
“We obviously need to tighten up our defence if we could, but I was very pleased to win tonight.”
