Aris Salonika 0-0 Man City: Dzeko denied

By the final whistle Roberto Mancini had fielded £200million worth of talent.

But even that embarrassment of riches was not enough to plunder a goal for Manchester City in Greece.

City found out just why Aris have not lost at home in Europe for 43 years, a run extended to 26 games with this draw, as Mancini's men endured a frustrating night.

Sir Alex Ferguson has always regarded 0-0 scorelines away from home in Europe as dangerous and Mancini will feel the same sense of unease ahead of the return leg at Eastlands a week tomorrow.

City's £27million signing Edin Dzeko continued to frustrate, missing a glaring chance early in the first-half, while skipper Carlos Tevez was strangely subdued by his own irrepressible standards, failing to make any kind of impression on the game.

Mancini could not hide his dismay with his side afterwards, singling out winger Shaun Wright-Phillips for particular criticism by stating that City only produced one cross in the second-half, that from holding midfielder Gareth Barry.

The whole night felt like a missed opportunity for City, who never looked in any real danger of conceding, but who managed just two attempts on goal. Both fell to Dzeko but, after his poor early miss, it took a world-class save from Aris keeper Michalis Sifakis to deny him a fine headed goal.

Despite their relatively low profile on the European stage, Aris's record at the vibrant Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium demanded respect and they had served notice of their threat in the group stage, beating holders Atletico Madrid home and away, while also drawing with former Champions League finalists Bayer Leverkusen.

The frenzied and intimidating support of their fans has clearly been a major factor in Aris's incredible home record, their relentless signing and booing every time a City player touched the ball ensuring the tie was as much a test of the character of Mancini's men as their ability.

Mancini's decision to select such a strong line-up reflected his desire to win the Europa League and end City's 35-year wait for silverware, with the Premier League title now looking out of reach and the FA Cup a distant target, with a fourth round replay against Notts County this Sunday.

City seized control of the game early on, retaining possession, passing with fluency and restricting their opponents to the occasional counter-attack, David Silva testing Sifakis with a low shot on target in the ninth minute.

Mancini's men continued to get in behind the Aris defence and should have made their probing count in the 15th minute, when a fine ball into the six-yard box from Aleksandar Kolarov should have ended with Dzeko opening the scoring.

Dzeko met the cross from Kolarov but Silva got in his way, the ball getting stuck under the feet of the City striker, who ended up scooping his effort into the arms of Sifakis.

City's failure to turn their early dominance into the precious currency of an away goal emboldened Aris, who came close to going ahead in the 39th minute from a free-kick after Joe Hart handled the ball outside his area following a collision with Gareth Barry.

Hart was beaten by Neto's curling set-piece delivery from the edge of the 18-yard box but was relieved to see the ball spin wide of his right-hand post.

The game sparked into life briefly after the break with a chance for either side in the space of two minutes, both keepers excelling with majestic saves.

Dzeko looked to have scored in the 63rd minute when he got ahead of his marker to connect with a goal-bound header from Barry's excellent delivery, but Sifakis produced a fine one-handed save to tip the ball over.

Then it was the turn of Hart, who had been required to do little all night, but who showed impressive agility, diving at full-stretch to parry a curling, angled long-range shot from Neto.

Such was City's frustration, Mario Balotelli was thrown on with 14 minutes left, Mancini having said on the eve of the game that the striker would play no part.

It was Balotelli's first game in six weeks, a persistent knee injury having sidelined him following his hat-trick against Aston Villa on December 28.

Tevez, just as he did in the Manchester derby, looked out of sorts, unable to make any kind of impression on the game, while Dzeko was put out of his misery with six minutes to go, replaced by Pablo Zabaleta.

Balotelli tried a Rooney-esque overhead kick with four minutes to go, but it failed to come off. It was that kind of night for City.