Much like the recent storm swept through the north-west the night before, City blew Manchester United away at the Etihad Stadium. It was a emphatic three goal win for the City coach's side due to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Shaw and Hemp. It was a performance that truly announced their championship potential as they reinforced their place at the top of the table.
This scoreline signalled successive Women's Super League defeats for the United manager's side for the first time since last May, putting them a significant margin off the table toppers with their championship aspirations severely dented.
The Red Devils' capacity to manage league and continental soccer with a thin team has been a frequently analyzed subject since they secured entry to the UCL. Reviewing the fixture list, it always appeared this was the week that would seriously challenge this fortitude. Unfortunately for the opposition, they appeared weary from start to finish, the memorable win against PSG clearly having had an impact.
The United manager had attempted to freshen things up with a several adjustments. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all brought vigor, although the dropping of the in-form Malard to the substitutes raised a few eyebrows.
The hosts, in opposition, have no similar loading worries. Jeglertz made one change from last week’s win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her initial starting appearance since healing from a physical setback.
The trouble started to build for Skinner and his side from the opening minute. This was a demonstration of the power from City whose dynamic attack controlled and tore United open with a excellent first half display that saw them score three goals in just over twenty minutes.
This placed City in a commanding position and saw the visitors all at sea. Prior to this encounter, United had let in just six in this league campaign but they disintegrated in the face of the hosts' offensive ingenuity.
The warning signs came early when Vivianne Miedema used her power to bundle Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot wide. Lauren Hemp was at the core of everything from the start, exploiting the room left by Riviere down United’s right flank. Her crosses were causing problems and led to an opportunity for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg kicked off the line.
United had a number of attacks ahead, their straightforward approach giving them choices in the flanks but they could not challenge the City goalkeeper. Manchester City, in the meantime, controlled the ball, taunting their rivals and trying to pull them out of their structure.
They turned chances into goals with almost half an hour played when Fujino won the hosts a corner. A ball to the far post was nodded across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to head in. It was Manchester City's seventh header of the campaign.
They added to their cushion with two more goals just before the interval. When Rose was able to maraud through the center from central defence, the play opened up for City. The influential Kerstin Casparij collected the pass on the wing before sending a accurate low cross for Shaw to force home. Shortly later, they had a third after a swift shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp given the opportunity to strike a shot home from range.
The primary substitution came from Skinner at the interval as Melvine Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was too late to change the course of the match. Ex- Manchester City player Jess Park came nearest, striking the upright, but the away team were offensively poor and were unable to record a single shot on target.
The home side, in contrast, could have added to their lead when a excellent Miedema through ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it mattered little to the winning team. Having failed to defeat any opponent who placed above them last season, the manager's side now have wins against Arsenal and United to position them in a strong position after the opening fixtures.
