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Similar to bad weather tore through the north-west the prior day, Manchester City swept United aside at the their home ground. It was a emphatic three-nil win for Andrée Jeglertz’s side thanks to goals from Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Hemp. It was a result that clearly signaled their title credentials as they strengthened their position at the WSL pinnacle.

Back-to-Back Setbacks for Manchester United

This scoreline marked successive Women's Super League setbacks for the United manager's side for the initial occasion since last May, leaving them a sizable gap off the top team with their title hopes hanging by a thread.

United’s capability to juggle league and European soccer with a thin team has been a hotly discussed topic since they secured entry to the European competition. Considering the fixture list, it always felt like this was the period that would fully examine this ability. Regrettably for the away side, they looked tired from start to finish, the memorable win against PSG clearly having taken a toll.

Team Changes

Marc Skinner had attempted to make changes with a handful of alterations. Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Leah Galton all brought freshness, although the exclusion of the high-performing Malard to the sidelines was questioned.

City, in contrast, have no such workload concerns. Andrée Jeglertz made one change from last week’s win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her return to the lineup since healing from a fitness issue.

Dominant First Half

The trouble started to build for Skinner and his side from the first whistle. This was a demonstration of the strength from Manchester City whose potent forward line controlled and tore United open with a excellent first half performance that saw them net a trio in under half an hour.

This left the home team in a commanding position and saw the visitors all at sea. Before this fixture, the away side had let in just six in this league campaign but they fell apart in the wake of City’s creative prowess.

Early Chances

The early indicators came soon when Vivianne Miedema used her power to push Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot past the post. Lauren Hemp was at the heart of everything early on, using the gap left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' wing. Her crosses were creating danger and led to an attempt for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had several attacks forward, their straightforward approach giving them options in the wide areas but they could not test the City goalkeeper. Manchester City, on the other hand, dominated the ball, probing their opponents and trying to draw them out of their organization.

Triple Strike

They converted their dominance with almost the first period played when Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A cross to the back post was headed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to head in. It was City’s 7th headed goal of the term.

They added to their cushion with another pair of goals just before the break. When Jade Rose was allowed to advance through the middle from the back, the field became spacious for the hosts. The prominent Kerstin Casparij received possession on the right before delivering a pinpoint driven ball for Shaw to force home. Four minutes later, they had a third goal after a quick shift in possession saw Hemp afforded the space to drive a shot home from range.

After the Break

The most obvious substitution came from Skinner at the half-time as Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to alter the outcome of the game. Ex- City player Jess Park came most likely to score, hitting the post, but the away team were offensively poor and were unable to register a one shot on target.

The hosts, on the other hand, could have extended their lead when a delightful Vivianne Miedema through ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it was insignificant to the winning team. Having failed to overcome any opponent who finished above them last season, the manager's side now have victories against the Gunners and Manchester United to place them in a strong situation after nine games.