Manchester City reached the last eight of the Uefa Cup beating AaB on penalties after letting a 2-0 lead slip.
The Premier League club were guilty of sitting back on their advantage from the first-leg, in the second half, which enabled Aalborg to turn this tie on its head.
Two goals in the final five minutes of normal time took this game into overtime with Luton Shelton volleying home, while Michael Jakobsen calmly converted from the penalty spot to level up the aggregate score at 2-2.
City held their nerve in the penalty contest with the Danes coming up short in the end to lose 4-3 on penalties.
A red and white sea of flags greeted the sides when they walked out of the tunnel with the home supporters bidding to make their modest Aalborg Stadion as imposing as humanly possible for the English aristocrats.
The spectre of a City away goal would douse the home flames of optimism instantly and AaB made sure that all of the visitors’ game breakers were double-marked at least, when they took possession of the ball.
A scrappy affair suited Mark Hughes’ team who were under no compulsion to score and neither goalkeeper was obliged to make a save of note in the first half with Stephen Ireland’s rising strike over the crossbar a demonstration of the fare on show, although a bobbling pitch did not help matters.
The home side had to step on the gas at some point and they did midway through the half with Nedum Onuoha forced to make a sliding tackle, as Luton Shelton lurked, to concede a corner at the near post from which Andreas Johansson saw his shot take a deflection and wrong foot Shay Given only to miss the intended target.
A stodgy affair with plenty of aerial ping-pong was not going to entice the likes of Robinho and Shaun Wright-Phillips to produce their best and the forward momentum was often lacking with only the industry of Ireland standing out.
Robinho took the wrong option when he did make progress to the byline electing to shoot from a ridiculous angle into the side-netting, when a pass would have been the preferable option.
AaB were howling for a penalty after the interval when Risgaard tumbled to the deck with Kompany in close attendance, as the midfielder looked to make contact with a cross but the referee declined to award a spot-kick.
The bumpy surface once again came to the fore when Ched Evans rattled a shot high and wide following a neat pass by Ireland with the Welsh striker unable to take advantage of a rare start.
City were lucky not to concede when Lucas Caca drove his shot wide of the far post from Shelton’s knockdown but full-back Wayne Bridge had been a passenger during this sequence of play with a hamstring injury, and he made way for Javier Garrido, immediately after this scare for the visitors.
The Spaniard was shortly the focal point as Andreas Johansson tumbled to the ground in the penalty area following his challenge but he received the benefit of the doubt from the ref with the faintest of touches to the ball saving the defender.
The introduction of Siyabonga Nomvete for the injured Anders Due had made a difference for Aab with his lively runs causing some problems for the visitors who looked to be sitting back and waiting for a decisive counter-attack to put this tie to bed.
This was a dangerous road to go down and Andreas Johansson’s shot deflected just wide of the near post in a crowded Manchester City penalty box, and Aalborg went even closer to scoring when Richard Dunne was slow to close down Shelton whose shot from close range cannoned off the outstretched arm of Given.
This one-way assault left holes at the back for City to exploit with Robinho striking the crossbar following Ireland’s pull back and Evans also went close with a shot saved by Karim Gaza.
A squeaky finale was guaranteed for City when Shelton clinically found the bottom left corner of the net with a volley following substitute Marcus Tracy’s header which glided into the path of the striker in the 85th minute.
Five minutes later and the Danish outfit were back on level terms when Jakobsen flicked on from a corner which hit the unfortunate Evans on the arm and the penalty was inevitable, which Jakobsen planted into the top of the net himself to force extra-time.
Robinho cut a forlorn figure for the second game running as Mark Hughes took off the misfiring Brazilian and threw the promising striker Felipe Caicedo into the mix.
City managed to ride out the unwelcome extra half an hour without a fatal blow being struck in either direction and the final act of this drama in Hamlet country would be a penalty shootout.
It was the home side who buckled in this lottery with captain Thomas Augustinussen and Shelton both repelled by Given, as all of City's spot kicks found the back of the net.
STAR MAN: Stephen Ireland [8/10*]. The midfielder showed plenty of industry and grit throughout this dicy encounter for Manchester City. Click here for ratings and Opta stats