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Just as bad weather hit the northern region the previous evening, City swept United away at the Etihad Stadium. It was a convincing three goal triumph for their manager's side thanks to goals from Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Hemp. It was a result that truly announced their championship potential as they consolidated their place at the top of the table.

Consecutive Losses for Manchester United

This result marked successive Women's Super League losses for Marc Skinner’s side for the initial occasion since last May, putting them seven points off the league leaders with their trophy ambitions in serious doubt.

Manchester United's ability to balance domestic and continental football with a thin team has been a hotly discussed issue since they secured entry to the Champions League. Looking at the fixture list, it always felt like this was the matchday that would seriously challenge this fortitude. Sadly for the visitors, they seemed weary all game, the historic win against PSG clearly having left its mark.

Team Changes

Skinner had attempted to freshen things up with a handful of alterations. Ella Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all provided freshness, although the dropping of the high-performing Malard to the substitutes raised a few eyebrows.

Manchester City, in comparison, have fewer loading concerns. Andrée Jeglertz made one adjustment from the previous win over the Toffees with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since healing from injury.

Dominant First Half

The pressure started to accumulate for Skinner and his team from the first whistle. This was a demonstration of the strength from Manchester City whose energetic attack controlled and pulled the visitors apart with a superb initial 45 minutes display that saw them score three goals in under half an hour.

This placed City completely dominant and left United disorganized. In advance of this encounter, the away side had allowed just six in this WSL season but they disintegrated in the wake of City’s creative prowess.

Opening Threats

The warning signs came soon when Miedema used her strength to push Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot past the post. Lauren Hemp was at the heart of everything early on, taking advantage of the space left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' wing. Her passes were posing a threat and led to an opportunity for Hasegawa that Sandberg scrambled off the line.

The Red Devils had several sorties ahead, their long-ball tactic giving them choices in the flanks but they could not trouble the City goalkeeper. Manchester City, meanwhile, dominated the ball, teasing their opposition and trying to lure them of their structure.

Scoring Spree

They made their pressure count with almost thirty minutes played when Fujino won the home team a corner. A delivery to the back post was headed across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was Manchester City's 7th headed goal of the season.

They increased their lead with another pair of goals just before the half-time. When Jade Rose was permitted to maraud through the middle from defense, the play opened up for City. The key Casparij collected the pass on the wing before sending a precise low cross for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. A short time later, they had a third after a quick shift in the ball saw Hemp allowed the opportunity to drive a attempt home from outside the box.

Final Period

The most obvious substitution came from the United manager at the half-time as Melvine Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to change the course of the contest. Former Manchester City player Jess Park came closest, striking the post, but the visitors were creatively abject and were unable to produce a solitary shot on goal.

The home side, meanwhile, could have added to their lead when a superb Vivianne Miedema through ball sent Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it mattered little to the winning team. Previously unable to beat any side who placed above them in the prior term, City's side now have victories against Arsenal and Manchester United to place them in a strong standing after nine matches.