Manchester City Three Goals to Nil Man United: Lauren Hemp on target in City dominant win.

Similar to the recent storm hit the north-west the previous evening, City swept United away at the Etihad. It was a convincing 3-0 triumph for Andrée Jeglertz’s side thanks to goals from Knaak, Shaw and Hemp. It was a result that clearly signaled their championship potential as they reinforced their standing at the league summit.

Back-to-Back Defeats for United

This scoreline marked back-to-back Women's Super League setbacks for Marc Skinner’s side for the first time since last May, putting them seven points off the league leaders with their title hopes in serious doubt.

United’s capacity to manage league and European football with a small team has been a frequently analyzed subject since they secured entry to the Champions League. Looking at the fixture list, it always appeared this was the week that would seriously challenge this fortitude. Sadly for the opposition, they seemed weary from start to finish, the historic win against PSG clearly having left its mark.

Team Changes

The United manager had sought to rotate the squad with a handful of alterations. Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all brought energy, although the omission of the on-form Melvine Malard to the bench caused surprise.

City, in comparison, have no similar workload issues. Andrée Jeglertz made one adjustment from the previous win over the Toffees with Hemp making her first start since recovering from a physical setback.

Overpowering Start

The trouble started to build for the United boss and his squad from the opening minute. This was a demonstration of the power from City whose dynamic attack controlled and tore United open with a excellent initial 45 minutes performance that saw them net a trio in under half an hour.

This put the hosts firmly in control and left United struggling. Prior to this match, United had allowed just few in this WSL season but they collapsed in the face of the hosts' creative prowess.

Early Chances

The omens came early when Miedema used her physicality to push Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot off target. Hemp was at the center of everything from the start, exploiting the gap left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' wing. Her deliveries were creating danger and led to an chance for Hasegawa that Sandberg scrambled off the line.

The Red Devils had multiple sorties forward, their direct style giving them alternatives in the wide areas but they could not test Yamashita. City, on the other hand, dominated the ball, teasing their rivals and trying to draw them out of their defensive shape.

Triple Strike

They made their pressure count with almost half an hour played when Fujino won the home team a set-piece. A delivery to the back post was nodded across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to nod home. It was Manchester City's seventh header of the term.

They increased their advantage with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Jade Rose was permitted to advance through the center from defense, the play widened for City. The prominent Kerstin Casparij collected the pass on the wing before delivering a pinpoint driven ball for Shaw to tap home. A short time later, they had a third goal after a rapid change in the ball saw Hemp afforded the room to fire a shot home from distance.

Second Half

The primary substitution came from Skinner at the break as Malard was introduced for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to alter the outcome of the contest. Ex- City player Park came most likely to score, striking the woodwork, but the visitors were offensively poor and failed to register a one shot on target.

The hosts, in contrast, could have added to their lead when a delightful Vivianne Miedema pass sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fluff her lines but it mattered little to the hosts. Having failed to overcome any opponent who ended above them in the prior term, Jeglertz’s side now have successes against the Gunners and Manchester United to position them in a strong standing after the opening fixtures.