🔗 Share this article

Similar to bad weather hit the northwest the previous evening, Manchester City overwhelmed the visitors away at the Etihad Stadium. It was a convincing three goal triumph for the City coach's side thanks to goals from Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that firmly established their championship potential as they consolidated their place at the league summit.

Back-to-Back Defeats for Manchester United

This scoreline represented back-to-back WSL defeats for Marc Skinner’s side for the maiden instance since last May, putting them a significant margin off the league leaders with their championship aspirations hanging by a thread.

United’s ability to juggle domestic and continental football with a thin team has been a widely debated issue since they secured entry to the European competition. Looking at the schedule, it always appeared this was the period that would fully examine this ability. Sadly for the opposition, they appeared tired from start to finish, the memorable win against Paris Saint-Germain clearly having left its mark.

Team Changes

Skinner had sought to freshen things up with a a few adjustments. Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all provided energy, although the omission of the on-form Malard to the sidelines caused surprise.

City, in opposition, have fewer fitness worries. The City coach made one adjustment from last week’s win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her first start since returning from injury.

Commanding Opening Period

The pressure started to build for Skinner and his squad from the kickoff. This was a show of the quality from Manchester City whose energetic forward line played with and tore United open with a sublime opening period showing that saw them net a trio in 21 minutes.

This placed City in a commanding position and left United all at sea. Prior to this match, United had let in just six in this league campaign but they disintegrated in the face of City’s offensive ingenuity.

Early Chances

The omens came early when Vivianne Miedema used her physicality to push Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot off target. Lauren Hemp was at the heart of everything from the start, taking advantage of the space left by Riviere down the visitors' right flank. Her passes were causing problems and led to an opportunity for Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

The Red Devils had multiple sorties ahead, their direct style giving them options in the wide areas but they could not trouble Yamashita. City, in the meantime, dominated the ball, probing their opponents and trying to pull them out of their structure.

Goals Galore

They turned chances into goals with almost thirty minutes played when Aoba Fujino won the home team a corner. A delivery to the far post was headed across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to nod home. It was Manchester City's seventh header of the season.

They added to their cushion with an additional two goals just before the break. When Rose was allowed to maraud through the middle from central defence, the pitch widened for City. The key Kerstin Casparij received possession on the wing before delivering a pinpoint low cross for Shaw to bundle home. Four minutes later, they had a additional score after a rapid change in possession saw Hemp given the space to drive a shot home from distance.

Final Period

The most obvious substitution came from Skinner at the half-time as Melvine Malard entered for Terland but by this time it was futile to change the course of the match. Former City player Jess Park came most likely to score, rattling the upright, but the visitors were offensively poor and failed to record a single shot on target.

The hosts, in contrast, could have added to their cushion when a delightful Miedema pass sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fluff her lines but it mattered little to the hosts. Previously unable to beat any team who placed above them the previous campaign, the manager's side now have successes against Arsenal and United to position them in a commanding position after the opening fixtures.