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Much like bad weather swept through the north-west the night before, City swept Manchester United aside at the their home ground. It was a emphatic 3-0 victory for the City coach's side owing to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Shaw and Hemp. It was a performance that truly announced their title credentials as they strengthened their place at the top of the table.

Successive Defeats for United

This result represented successive WSL defeats for the United manager's side for the maiden instance since last May, placing them seven points off the league leaders with their title hopes hanging by a thread.

United’s capability to juggle domestic and European football with a limited squad has been a frequently analyzed issue since they secured entry to the Champions League. Looking at the fixture list, it always felt like this was the period that would seriously challenge this capability. Sadly for the away side, they seemed fatigued from start to finish, the historic win against the French side clearly having had an impact.

Tactical Shifts

Skinner had attempted to make changes with a a few alterations. Toone, Terland, Janssen and Leah Galton all brought energy, although the dropping of the in-form Malard to the bench raised a few eyebrows.

Manchester City, in comparison, have no similar workload worries. The City coach made a single alteration from the previous win over Everton with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since healing from injury.

Overpowering Start

The pressure started to build for Skinner and his squad from the opening minute. This was a demonstration of the power from City whose potent attack manipulated and pulled the visitors apart with a excellent initial 45 minutes performance that saw them score three goals in 21 minutes.

This left the home team in a commanding position and had Manchester United struggling. Prior to this fixture, United had allowed just six in this WSL season but they disintegrated in the presence of Manchester City's offensive ingenuity.

Initial Opportunities

The omens came quickly when Miedema used her strength to bundle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot off target. Hemp was at the center of everything early on, exploiting the room 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 cleared off the line.

The Red Devils had several sorties forward, their long-ball tactic giving them options in the wings but they could not challenge Ayaka Yamashita. Manchester City, meanwhile, controlled the ball, teasing their rivals and trying to draw them out of their defensive shape.

Triple Strike

They turned chances into goals with almost the first period played when Fujino won the home team a set-piece. A delivery to the far post was nodded across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was City’s 7th goal from a cross of the season.

They extended their advantage with an additional two goals just before the break. When Jade Rose was permitted to drive through the midfield from defense, the pitch opened up for City. The influential Kerstin Casparij collected the pass on the wing before delivering a accurate driven ball for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. Four minutes later, they had a additional score after a swift change in the ball saw Hemp afforded the space to drive a attempt home from range.

Final Period

The most obvious change came from Skinner at the break as Melvine Malard entered for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was ineffective to shift the momentum of the match. Former City player Park came closest, rattling the upright, but the away team were offensively poor and failed to record a one shot on target.

The home side, in contrast, could have added to their advantage when a superb Miedema pass sent Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it did not affect the result to the winning team. Having failed to beat any team who ended above them the previous campaign, City's side now have victories against Arsenal and Manchester United to position them in a strong standing after nine matches.