🔗 Share this article

Much like the recent storm hit the north-west the prior day, Manchester City blew United away at the Etihad. It was a emphatic three-nil triumph for the City coach's side thanks to goals from Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that truly announced their championship potential as they consolidated their standing at the top of the table.

Back-to-Back Setbacks for United

This outcome signalled successive WSL setbacks for Marc Skinner’s side for the initial occasion since last May, leaving them a significant margin off the league leaders with their championship aspirations in serious doubt.

United’s capacity to juggle domestic and European soccer with a small roster has been a widely debated topic since they qualified for the UCL. Considering the schedule, it always appeared this was the matchday that would truly test this fortitude. Regrettably for the visitors, they appeared fatigued all game, the historic win against PSG clearly having left its mark.

Lineup Adjustments

Skinner had attempted to rotate the squad with a handful of changes. Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Leah Galton all brought freshness, although the omission of the in-form Malard to the bench caused surprise.

Manchester City, in comparison, have no such workload concerns. The City coach made a single alteration from last week’s win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her return to the lineup since recovering from injury.

Commanding Opening Period

The pressure started to build for the United boss and his side from the opening minute. This was a show of the quality from Manchester City whose energetic attack controlled and dismantled the opposition with a superb first half performance that saw them put three past the keeper in just over twenty minutes.

This left the home team firmly in control and had Manchester United all at sea. Prior to this match, the away side had conceded just few in this league campaign but they collapsed in the presence of City’s attacking flair.

Early Chances

The omens came soon when Vivianne Miedema used her strength to push Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot off target. Hemp was at the core of everything early on, exploiting the gap left by Riviere down the visitors' right side. Her deliveries were causing problems and led to an chance for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had a number of sorties forwards, their long-ball tactic giving them options in the wide areas but they could not trouble Ayaka Yamashita. City, on the other hand, commanded possession, teasing their opponents and trying to draw them out of their organization.

Triple Strike

They converted their dominance with almost half an hour played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a corner. A delivery to the back post was directed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Knaak to head in. It was City’s 7th header of the term.

They increased their lead with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Jade Rose was allowed to advance through the middle from defense, the pitch opened up for City. The key Kerstin Casparij received possession on the wing before delivering a precise driven ball for Shaw to force home. Four minutes later, they had a third goal after a rapid turnover in possession saw Lauren Hemp afforded the space to drive a attempt home from range.

After the Break

The primary adjustment came from Skinner at the half-time as Malard entered for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to shift the momentum of the game. Ex- Manchester City player Park came nearest, rattling the post, but the away team were creatively abject and did not manage to register a solitary shot on goal.

The home side, on the other hand, could have increased their lead when a superb Miedema pass sent Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it mattered little to the hosts. After failing to overcome any opponent who placed above them in the prior term, City's side now have victories against Arsenal and United to put them in a commanding situation after nine matches.