City suffer shock defeat

With manager Mark Hughes obliged to state publicly he would be staying amid talk of financial constraints and internal conflict he needed a victory in this UEFA Cup match to lighten his load.

Instead it was difficult viewing for the former Blackburn boss as Olsen scored the only goal of the game in the 16th minute, leaving City with an uphill task in this second qualifying round match in Denmark in a fortnight.

The Danes grew in confidence and the only surprise was that they did not extend their lead, especially in the first half.

Daniel Sturridge and Martin Petrov both hit the woodwork but Hughes was forced to listen to his side being jeered off at the end.

The sparse crowd were stunned into silence when Midtjylland took the lead following a mistake by skipper Richard Dunne. He lost possession to Jonas Borring and he showed a good first touch as the Danes quickly got men forward.

Borring released Mikkel Thygesen, who played the ball into Olsen and he rattled a shot into the corner to give them what could prove to be a vital away goal.

Petrov, however, almost grabbed the equaliser in the 21st minute when he broke clear only to see his chip clear the bar.

Sturridge gave City a glimmer of hope in the 34th minute when he cut inside but scuffed his effort wide of the post and he almost grabbed the equaliser two minutes before the break after being set up by Felipe Caicedo but his effort to come back off the underside of the bar.

City almost went 2-0 down in the 72nd minute when 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 and they now face a difficult second leg in Denmark in a fortnight.