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Just as the recent storm tore through the northern region the night before, Manchester City overwhelmed Manchester United aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a convincing three goal triumph for Andrée Jeglertz’s side due to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Shaw and Hemp. It was a result that clearly signaled their title credentials as they strengthened their position at the top of the table.

Successive Setbacks for Manchester United

This result marked consecutive WSL setbacks for Marc Skinner’s side for the initial occasion since last May, leaving them seven points off the league leaders with their trophy ambitions in serious doubt.

The Red Devils' capacity to manage league and continental football with a thin team has been a hotly discussed topic since they earned a place in the European competition. Looking at the calendar, it always appeared this was the matchday that would truly test this fortitude. Regrettably for the visitors, they seemed tired all game, the historic win against the French side clearly having left its mark.

Lineup Adjustments

Skinner had tried to make changes with a handful of changes. Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all provided freshness, although the exclusion of the on-form Melvine Malard to the substitutes caused surprise.

City, in contrast, have no similar loading concerns. Andrée Jeglertz made one adjustment from the previous win over the Toffees with Hemp making her first start since healing from a physical setback.

Dominant First Half

The trouble started to accumulate for Skinner and his side from the first whistle. This was a demonstration of the power from Manchester City whose dynamic offense controlled and pulled the visitors apart with a superb initial 45 minutes performance that saw them put three past the keeper in just over twenty minutes.

This left the home team in a commanding position and saw the visitors disorganized. In advance of this fixture, United had let in just a handful in this WSL season but they fell apart in the wake of City’s offensive ingenuity.

Opening Threats

The early indicators came early when Vivianne Miedema used her strength to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot past the post. Hemp was at the core of everything from the start, exploiting the room left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' right flank. Her crosses were creating danger and led to an chance for Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had a number of attacks forwards, their direct style giving them alternatives in the wings but they could not trouble the City goalkeeper. Manchester City, on the other hand, controlled possession, taunting their opposition and trying to draw them out of their structure.

Scoring Spree

They turned chances into goals with almost the first period played when Fujino won the home team a corner. A ball to the back post was headed across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was Manchester City's seventh goal from a cross of the campaign.

They increased their lead with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Rose was able to maraud through the midfield from the back, the field became spacious for City. The influential Kerstin Casparij collected the pass on the wing before providing a pinpoint ground pass for Shaw to tap home. A short time later, they had a third after a swift turnover in the ball saw Hemp given the room to drive a shot home from outside the box.

Final Period

The most obvious substitution came from Skinner at the interval as Malard entered for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was ineffective to change the course of the contest. Ex- City player Jess Park came most likely to score, rattling the woodwork, but the away team were creatively abject and failed to produce a one shot on goal.

The home side, meanwhile, could have added to their advantage when a excellent Vivianne Miedema through ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it did not affect the result to the winning team. After failing to defeat any team who placed above them the previous campaign, the manager's side now have successes against Arsenal and Manchester United to put them in a favorable position after nine matches.