🔗 Share this article

Similar to bad weather hit the north-west the night before, City swept Manchester United away at the Etihad Stadium. It was a emphatic three goal win for the City coach'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 place at the league summit.

Successive Losses for Manchester United

This outcome represented consecutive WSL losses for the United manager's side for the maiden instance since last May, putting them a sizable gap off the top team with their title hopes severely dented.

Manchester United's ability to manage domestic and continental football with a thin team has been a frequently analyzed subject since they qualified for the UCL. Looking at the schedule, it always seemed this was the week that would seriously challenge this ability. Sadly for the visitors, they appeared fatigued all game, the landmark win against the French side clearly having taken a toll.

Tactical Shifts

The United manager had attempted to freshen things up with a a few changes. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Leah Galton all provided vigor, although the exclusion of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the bench was questioned.

City, in comparison, have no similar fitness worries. Andrée Jeglertz made one change from their most recent win over the Toffees with Hemp making her return to the lineup since returning from a physical setback.

Commanding Opening Period

The storm clouds started to build for Skinner and his team from the kickoff. This was a show of the power from Manchester City whose potent offense played with and dismantled the opposition with a sublime initial 45 minutes showing that saw them net a trio in 21 minutes.

This placed City completely dominant and left United disorganized. Before this fixture, the away side had let in just a handful in this league campaign but they fell apart in the presence of Manchester City's creative prowess.

Early Chances

The warning signs came early when Miedema used her strength to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot off target. Lauren Hemp was at the center of everything in the beginning, using the gap left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' wing. Her passes were creating danger and led to an chance for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg cleared off the line.

United had a number of attacks forwards, their long-ball tactic giving them options in the wide areas but they could not test Yamashita. City, on the other hand, commanded the ball, probing their opposition and trying to lure them of their structure.

Triple Strike

They made their pressure count with almost half an hour played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A ball to the far post was nodded across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to head in. It was City’s seventh header of the campaign.

They added to their advantage with two more goals just before the half-time. When Jade Rose was permitted to drive through the midfield from defense, the field widened for the hosts. The prominent Kerstin Casparij received possession on the wing before sending a precise driven ball for Shaw to force home. Four minutes later, they had a third after a rapid shift in the ball saw Lauren Hemp given the opportunity to drive a shot home from range.

Second Half

The clearest substitution came from the United manager at the interval as Melvine Malard was introduced for Terland but by this time it was futile to change the course of the game. Ex- City player Park came closest, striking the woodwork, but the away team were offensively poor and did not manage to register a one shot on target.

The home side, meanwhile, could have added to their cushion when a excellent Vivianne Miedema through ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it was insignificant to the winning team. After failing to overcome any side who finished above them last season, the manager's side now have victories against the Gunners and United to place them in a commanding situation after nine matches.