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Manchester City did not leave Greece last night with a coveted away goal, although they did their chances of Europa League progress little harm after drawing 0-0 with a competitive Aris Thessaloniki side.

Their hosts have not lost a home European tie for 40 years and it was easy to see why. They were disciplined and feisty, preventing City from turning an advantage in possession into a set of goal-scoring chances. Those opportunities the visitors did fashion, most of which fell to Edin Dzeko, were smartly denied by Greek international goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis. After a cautious approach in the first half, the Greek side pushed City much harder as the game went on, led by the brave shuttling of Brazilian winger Darcy Dolce Neto. All of this took place in front of a vocal and colourful crowd in the Kleanthis Vikelides Stadium, with flags and banners in the club colours of yellow and black.

Perhaps realising that after last Saturday's derby defeat, the Europa League provides City's best chance of silverware, Roberto Mancini deployed his strongest side yet in the competition. No Shay Given, Patrick Vieira, Jo or Dedryck Boyata; Edin Dzeko led the line with support from Carlos Tevez, David Silva and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

While Aris's pressing was initially brisk, City had sufficient quality to find space in the host's half. Sifakis was forced into a sharp early save. David Silva, again City's most imaginative player, spun on the edge of the box and shot but Sifakis stretched to his left to keep it out. Most of City's first-half chances, however, fell to Dzeko. The Bosnian took advantage of Silva's touch before stabbing the ball at Sifakis. Soon after he broke through again but the keeper's save was more comfortable. After just one goal so far for City, and that in an FA Cup tie at Notts County, Dzeko looked keen to score his second goal for the club. His shots were often snatched and at times he turned down better passing opportunities, to the frustration of his colleagues.

City's first-half build-up play was patient enough to get bodies forward but not quick enough to break through the massed Aris lines. Mancini's team have, at times this season, struggled to break through opponents who have the intention and discipline to defend in numbers. In contrast, Aris attacked in spurts, relying on lively combinations between Neto and Argentinian forward Raul Bobadilla. When the precision of the visitors' passing dropped, Aris broke forward quickly, and sharply. Jerome Boateng, moved to centre-back, had to make some important interventions. It was Neto who went closer than anyone else in the first half to scoring. Joe Hart was ruled to have carried the ball out of the penalty area after colliding with Gareth Barry, and Neto's free-kick curled just beyond Hart's far post.

Aris started the second half as well as they did the first. Neto, a driving presence down the right flank, did not allow Aleksandar Kolarov to play quite as cavalier a game as he sometimes enjoys. The Brazilian's delivery to the near post was impressive and Bobadilla headed another good chance softly wide. It was a shot from near the touchline, rather than a cross, that asked the most of Hart, diving far to his right.

While Wright-Phillips traditionally does his best work close to the touchline, he had City's two best chances at the start of the second half from infield areas. Twice he moved inside the left-back and twice he was found by Dzeko. The second time Sifakis had to make a save as Wright-Phillips shot at him. The Greece goalkeeper made his hardest save of the evening just after the hour mark, turning Dzeko's near-post header over the bar from Barry's expert cross. Ten minutes later, Sifakis could only watch as a shot from City's new target man flew beyond his outstretched arms, but it went wide.

Aris manager Yiannis Mihalitsios sensed that there might be a better chance to take a lead back to Manchester than he initially suspected. Unlike the first half, they did not follow a good start with a retreat back towards their goal. Rather, they continued to press and thereby provided the space required for an open game.

Mancini, in the hope of reinvigorating his attack, introduced Italian striker Mario Balotelli. It was his first football since his hat-trick against Aston Villa on 28 December last year. An attempted overhead kick was shot wide in his only meaningful contribution. Dzeko was withdrawn soon after, but was first denied a fairly unlikely penalty claim by Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco.

Mancini, however, is not one to risk sacrificing a clean sheet in the desperate pursuit of a late goal. His players had a few corners in the final minutes but there was never a sense of any great siege. A stronger sense of urgency might be needed, though, when the teams meet again in eight days' time.

Aris Thessaloniki (4-4-1-1): Sifakis; Michel, Guiaro, Vangjeli, Lazaridis; Sakata, Faty, Prittas, Neto (Castillo, 88); Toja; Bobadilla (Cesarec, 72). Substitutes not used Vellidis (gk),Oriol, Kaznaferis, Mendrinos, Cesnauskis.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Kolarov, Boateng, K Touré, Richards; Barry, Y Touré; Tevez, Silva, Wright-Phillips (Balotelli, 77); Dzeko (Zabaleta, 84). Substitutes not used Given (gk), Kompany, Lescott, Vieira, Jo.

Referee A Undiano Mallenco (Spain).

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