With luck like this, Manchester City must have every reason to believe that this is the season when their 33-year wait for a significant trophy ends.

Outplayed over the two legs of their Uefa Cup second qualifying round tie against FC Midtjylland, City somehow emerged with their reputation intact and a place in the first round proper secured after their little-known Danish opponents proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot.

Thomas Thomasberg, the Midtjylland coach, refused to blame Collins Babatunde, but only the Nigerian striker will know how the game stayed goalless before City forced extra time with a last-minute goal that, in itself, owed much to good fortune, Danny Califf turning the ball into his own net from Michael Ball’s cross after the slightest of touches from Ched Evans.

When the game went to penalties, the momentum was with City. Joe Hart was the hero, the 21-year-old England Under-21 goalkeeper saving twice in a 4-2 shoot-out victory. Vedran Corluka, the Croatia defender, converted the decisive penalty with what may prove to be his final contribution for the club, with a move to Tottenham Hotspur looming.

“We kept knocking on the door, but it was a difficult night for us,” Mark Hughes, the City manager, said. “We rode our luck, but we’ll take the result as we find it doesn’t matter how you go through. Joe is a big character and personality and showed that with his antics before the penalties.”

If Hart enhanced his reputation, he was probably the only one. Garry Cook, the City executive chairman, may believe that the club can become the global equal of Manchester United, but on the basis of this performance, the size of the task facing him would appear insurmountable.

Midtjylland squandered four glorious chances to seal the tie, three of which fell to Babatunde. Michael Johnson missed a one-on-one in extra time and Daniel Sturridge hit the bar, but penalties were the least that the Danish side deserved.

The width and penetration that Shaun Wright-Phillips is expected to bring was lacking and, while Martin Petrov enjoyed occasional success on the left, City resorted to route-one tactics for much of the game. Jô’s aerial presence should benefit the club in the long term, but, with the defence lumping hopeful balls up to the gangly Brazil striker, Hughes’s team were too one-dimensional and asked few questions of a Midtjylland side happy to sit on their first-leg lead and look to the counter-attack.

City almost came unstuck on two such occasions during the first half-hour. Jonas Borring, a livewire throughout, was released through the middle and his shot, palmed away by Hart, was a warning that City failed to heed. Borring again tested Hart, this time from distance, and often ruffled City’s defence with smart movement.

With Vincent Kompany ineligible, having already played in Europe for SV Hamburg this season, Micah Richards filled the holding role in midfield and the England player still looked to be feeling the effects of the concussion suffered against West Ham United on Sunday. Aside from the occasional timely intervention, his distribution was poor, while Johnson alongside him fared little better. It was little surprise to see Dietmar Hamann introduced early in the second half at Richards’s expense.

City were fortunate that their task did not get harder before then when Elano escaped a red card for appearing to butt Adigun Salami. After pushing away Salami as he attempted to retrieve the ball in the wake of winning a free kick in the 52nd minute, the Brazil midfield player thrust his head at the Midtjylland player as they squared up.

Had Robert Malek got a proper view of the incident, he might have sent off Elano, but the Polish referee opted only to book the Brazilian, who was withdrawn by Hughes shortly after.

FC Midtjylland (4-4-1-1): L Heinze 7 — K Afriyie 7, D Califf 6, W Reid 7, C Poulsen 7 — D Olsen 7 (sub: F Kristensen, 88min), A Salami 7, G Florescu 7, J Borring 8 — M Thygesen 7 (sub: C Madsen, 78) — J Nworuh 6 (sub: B Babatunde, 67 6). Substitutes not used: M Raska, K Ipsa, D Flinta. Booked: Poulsen.

Manchester City (4-4-1-1): J Hart 8 — V Corluka 5, T Ben-Haim 5 (sub: D Hamann, 59 6), R Dunne 7, M Ball 5 — S Ireland 5, M Richards 5, M Johnson 5, M Petrov 6 — Elano 4 (sub: D Sturridge, 57 6) — Jô 5 (sub: C Evans, 80). Substitutes not used: K Schmeichel, G Fernandes, F Caicedo, J Garrido. Booked: Elano, Richards.

Referee: R Malek (Poland).

¤Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Portsmouth will also be in the draw for the Uefa Cup first round, which takes place at noon in Monaco today. The winners of the ties, scheduled to be played on September 18 and October 2, will qualify for the group stages of the competition. The top three teams in each group will progress to the last 32, where they will be joined by the eight clubs that finish third in the Champions League groups. AC Milan and Valencia, who are the top two seeds, and Benfica are among the teams in today’s draw.