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{ Manchester City were left frustrated by a resilient Aris Salonika as they failed to take advantage of their possession in a goalless draw in Greece.

Roberto Mancini’s men failed to capitalise on their domination of possession in the game and the Greek side will be happy they managed to go into the second leg with the score goalless.

The best chance of the first half fell to the recalled Edin Dzeko as he mishit his shot and saw it saved by the Aris goalkeeper after an Aleksandar Kolorov cross was controlled by David Silva into the path of the Bosnian striker.

Both teams had their chances to give their team the lead in the second half but failed to convert them. Aris’ best chance fell to the impressive Neto, who rifled in a dangerous 25 yard shot that saw Joe Hart stretching to keep the ball out, while City’s best chance again fell to Dzeko, as he fired in a powerful shot but could not direct it goalwards and saw his shot find it’s way wide of the post.

The result means the two teams go into next week’s second leg on level terms and the Aris' 40-year unbeaten home run continues.

Mancini made four changes from the team that lost 2-1 to local rivals Manchester United at the weekend, with Dzeko starting. Jerome Boateng and Kolo Toure came in to the middle of defence, while Shaun Wright-Phillips was chosen after impressing at the weekend. Pablo Zabaleta, Joleon Lescott and Vincent Kompany dropped to the bench, whilst James Milner was sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Aris named Nery Castillo, a one-time former Manchester City loanee who made nine appearances for the club, on the bench, while Neto took his place up front to lead the front line. The Brazilian striker is Aris’ top goalscorer and netted decisively in the 2-1 win over AEK Athens.

With a place in the last 16 of the Europa League up for stakes, City started brightly by dominating the early spell of possession. They controlled the game and passed the ball around the pitch, which was met by the sound of hostility by the home side’s supporters.

The first chance of the game fell after nine minutes to Silva, who managed to dribble the ball past three men before unleashing a 20-yard-shot, which was saved to the bottom left of Greek international Sifakis’ goal before clearing the danger.

The first real clear cut chance for City was in the 15th minute as Kolorov crossed a ball low across the Aris penalty area, but Dzeko's tame shot was saved from close range by the impressive Sifakis.

City continued to pile on the pressure and dominate possession and had another chance to open the scoring in the 28th minute as a smart touch from Wright-Phillips saw him put the ball past the Aris defence and into the feet of striker Dzeko. The Bosnian international decided to shoot from outside the area but failed to connect properly and saw his shot easily saved.

Aris began to claw their way into the game with 10 minutes of the first half remaining and a dubious decision from the assistant referee saw the home side presented with a free-kick just outside the penalty area.

The linesman raised his flag to indicate that Joe Hart had stepped outside his penalty area whilst still controlling the ball but he still had one foot inside the area. The official instantly dropped his flag before raising it again after being pressured by Aris players.

City brought most of their players back to defend the free-kick and had a strong wall but Aris could do nothing with the free-kick other than curl it over the wall and wide of Hart’s goal post, much to his delight.

Despite the amount of pressure City piled on the home side they could not penetrate the Aris defence and two teams entered the half time interval level, with the visitors perhaps left scratching their heads wondering what they needed to do to get the opening goal.

City scramble | Scrappy Blues failed to get important away goal
The second half began with the home side looking the more likely to get the opener on the counter attack.

The long-ball tactic employed by Aris saw them make numerous counter attacks within the first 10 minutes of the restart without any real conviction in the final third.

A challenge from Boateng in the 58th minute saw him foul Bobadilla just outside the penalty area to give the Greek side a good chance to take the lead. Neto took the resulting free kick and managed to lift the ball over the wall but the ball straight into the hands of Hart.

A superb reaction save from Safakis saw him prevent Dzeko giving the visitors the lead after the Bosnian headed his shot right at the Greek keeper in the 64th minute from a low Kolarov cross.

Just moments later Aris had their best chance of the game as Neto launched a powerful 25-yard-shot after an incisive breakaway, forcing Hart to push wide to keep the scores level.

Midway through the second half saw Dzeko waste another chance for Mancini’s side as the Aris defence allowed him the time and space to launch a shot from 25 yards, only to see it flash wide of the post with the 'keeper stranded.

With just under 15 minutes remaining, Mancini perhaps sensed that the game would need just one goal to win it and brought on Mario Balotelli for Wright-Phillips, switching the formation from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3.

Despite the continuous dominance from Manchester City the Greek side managed to hold on to a 0-0 draw, which they will take with them into next week’s second leg at Eastlands for a place in the last 16. Follow the Europa League LIVE on Goal.com:
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