Manchester City Three Goals to Nil Man United: Hemp finds the net in City stroll.

Similar to the recent storm tore through the north-west the previous evening, Manchester City swept Manchester United aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a emphatic 3-0 triumph for Andrée Jeglertz’s side thanks to goals from Knaak, Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that firmly established their leadership claims as they consolidated their standing at the WSL pinnacle.

Consecutive Losses for United

This outcome marked consecutive WSL losses for Skinner's side for the maiden instance since last May, putting them a significant margin off the top team with their championship aspirations in serious doubt.

The Red Devils' capacity to juggle domestic and European soccer with a small roster has been a hotly discussed subject since they qualified for the Champions League. Reviewing the calendar, it always felt like this was the week that would truly test this fortitude. Regrettably for the away side, they seemed weary all game, the historic win against PSG clearly having had an impact.

Tactical Shifts

Marc Skinner had sought to rotate the squad with a handful of changes. Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all provided vigor, although the exclusion of the in-form Melvine Malard to the sidelines caused surprise.

Manchester City, in comparison, have no similar loading concerns. The City coach made one adjustment from their most recent win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her return to the lineup since healing from injury.

Dominant First Half

The pressure started to build for Skinner and his side from the opening minute. This was a demonstration of the quality from City whose potent attack played with and tore United open with a sublime opening period showing that saw them put three past the keeper in under half an hour.

This placed City completely dominant and had Manchester United struggling. Before this encounter, the away side had conceded just few in this domestic competition but they disintegrated in the presence of Manchester City's offensive ingenuity.

Initial Opportunities

The omens came soon when Miedema used her physicality to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot past the post. Hemp was at the core of everything in the beginning, taking advantage of the space left by Jayde Riviere down United’s right side. Her deliveries were posing a threat and led to an opportunity for Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

The Red Devils had multiple sorties forwards, their long-ball tactic giving them choices in the wide areas but they could not challenge Yamashita. City, in the meantime, dominated possession, taunting their rivals and trying to pull them out of their structure.

Triple Strike

They made their pressure count with almost the first period played when Aoba Fujino won the home team a set-piece. A cross to the far post was directed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Knaak to nod home. It was City’s seventh goal from a cross of the campaign.

They added to their advantage with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Jade Rose was able to advance through the middle from the back, the field widened for the hosts. The influential Casparij collected the pass on the wing before sending a accurate ground pass for Shaw to bundle home. Four minutes later, they had a third after a quick shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp allowed the space to fire a shot home from outside the box.

After the Break

The primary change came from the United manager at the break as Malard entered for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was too late to alter the outcome of the contest. Former City player Jess Park came nearest, striking the post, but the visitors were offensively poor and were unable to register a one shot on target.

The hosts, on the other hand, could have increased their lead when a superb Miedema long ball sent Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it did not affect the result to the hosts. After failing to beat any side who ended above them last season, City's side now have successes against Arsenal and United to place them in a commanding position after nine games.