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Similar to bad weather tore through the northwest the night before, the home side blew the visitors aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a statement three-nil triumph for the City coach's side owing to goals from Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Hemp. It was a display that clearly signaled their title credentials as they reinforced their position at the WSL pinnacle.

Successive Setbacks for United

This result signalled consecutive Women's Super League defeats for Marc Skinner’s side for the first time since last May, placing them seven points off the top team with their championship aspirations in serious doubt.

United’s capability to juggle league and European football with a limited roster has been a frequently analyzed topic since they qualified for the Champions League. Reviewing the calendar, it always seemed this was the week that would seriously challenge this ability. Regrettably for the visitors, they appeared tired all game, the memorable win against the French side clearly having had an impact.

Tactical Shifts

Marc Skinner had attempted to freshen things up with a several adjustments. Ella Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all added energy, although the exclusion of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the sidelines caused surprise.

City, in contrast, have no similar workload concerns. The City coach made one change from their most recent win over the Toffees with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since recovering from injury.

Commanding Opening Period

The storm clouds started to gather for the United boss and his squad from the kickoff. This was a demonstration of the strength from Manchester City whose potent forward line played with and dismantled the opposition with a excellent opening period showing that saw them net a trio in under half an hour.

This placed City firmly in control and saw the visitors disorganized. Before this fixture, United had conceded just a handful in this WSL season but they disintegrated in the face of City’s creative prowess.

Early Chances

The early indicators came early when Vivianne Miedema used her power to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot off target. Hemp was at the center of everything from the start, using the space left by Riviere down United’s wing. Her passes were posing a threat and led to an opportunity for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had a number of forays ahead, their straightforward approach giving them alternatives in the wide areas but they could not challenge Yamashita. City, on the other hand, commanded the ball, taunting their opposition and trying to draw them out of their structure.

Triple Strike

They converted their dominance with almost the first period played when Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A delivery to the far post was nodded across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to nod home. It was Manchester City's 7th goal from a cross of the campaign.

They increased their advantage with two more goals just before the break. When Rose was allowed to maraud through the center from the back, the pitch opened up for the hosts. The prominent Casparij collected the pass on the right side before sending a accurate driven ball for Shaw to bundle home. A short time later, they had a third goal after a quick change in possession saw Hemp afforded the opportunity to fire a shot home from range.

Final Period

The clearest substitution came from Skinner at the break as Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was too late to shift the momentum of the game. Former City player Park came nearest, hitting the woodwork, but the visitors were offensively poor and did not manage to record a single shot on goal.

The hosts, in contrast, could have increased their cushion when a excellent Vivianne Miedema pass sent Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it was insignificant to the winning team. After failing to overcome any side who ended above them last season, Jeglertz’s side now have wins against Arsenal and United to put them in a commanding position after the opening fixtures.