🔗 Share this article

Much like bad weather hit the northern region the prior day, Manchester City swept the visitors aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a emphatic 3-0 triumph for their manager's side thanks to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a performance that truly announced their leadership claims as they consolidated their position at the league summit.

Consecutive Defeats for Manchester United

This result marked back-to-back league setbacks for the United manager's side for the first time since last May, putting them a significant margin off the league leaders with their championship aspirations in serious doubt.

United’s capability to juggle league and continental football with a small squad has been a frequently analyzed topic since they qualified for the European competition. Looking at the fixture list, it always felt like this was the period that would fully examine this fortitude. Unfortunately for the opposition, they seemed tired from start to finish, the memorable win against the French side clearly having taken a toll.

Team Changes

The United manager had attempted to freshen things up with a handful of adjustments. Ella Toone, Terland, Janssen and Leah Galton all provided freshness, although the exclusion of the in-form Melvine Malard to the substitutes caused surprise.

Manchester City, in opposition, have no such fitness worries. Jeglertz made a single alteration from last week’s win over Everton with Hemp making her first start since recovering from a fitness issue.

Commanding Opening Period

The storm clouds started to accumulate for Skinner and his squad from the opening minute. This was a exhibition of the strength from Manchester City whose dynamic forward line manipulated and pulled the visitors apart with a excellent opening period showing that saw them score three goals in 21 minutes.

This left the home team firmly in control and left United struggling. In advance of this encounter, the away side had allowed just a handful in this WSL season but they collapsed in the presence of Manchester City's attacking flair.

Initial Opportunities

The warning signs came soon when Vivianne Miedema used her physicality to bundle Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot wide. Hemp was at the center of everything from the start, exploiting the gap left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' right side. Her crosses were causing problems and led to an attempt for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had a number of sorties forward, their direct style giving them choices in the wide areas but they could not test the City goalkeeper. City, on the other hand, commanded the ball, taunting their rivals and trying to pull them out of their organization.

Scoring Spree

They converted their dominance with almost thirty minutes played when Fujino won the home team a set-piece. A ball to the far post was headed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Knaak to nod home. It was City’s seventh goal from a cross of the campaign.

They increased their cushion with an additional two goals just before the interval. When Rose was able to drive through the midfield from central defence, the field widened for City. The prominent Kerstin Casparij picked the ball up on the wing before providing a accurate low cross for Shaw to tap home. Four minutes later, they had a third goal after a rapid shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp given the opportunity to fire a attempt home from distance.

Second Half

The clearest change came from Skinner at the break as Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was futile to shift the momentum of the match. Former City player Jess Park came closest, hitting the upright, but the away team were creatively abject and did not manage to record a single shot on goal.

The home side, meanwhile, could have increased their advantage when a superb Miedema pass sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it mattered little to the winning team. Having failed to overcome any team who placed above them in the prior term, Jeglertz’s side now have victories against the Gunners and United to position them in a favorable situation after nine games.