Man City 3-0 The Red Devils: Hemp on target in Manchester City stroll.

Much like Storm Claudia swept through the north-west the previous evening, Manchester City blew Manchester United away at the their home ground. It was a statement three goal win for the City coach's side owing to goals from Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a performance that clearly signaled their championship potential as they consolidated their place at the top of the table.

Successive Defeats for Manchester United

This outcome marked back-to-back league defeats for the United manager's side for the maiden instance since last May, putting them seven points off the top team with their championship aspirations in serious doubt.

United’s capacity to juggle league and continental football with a small squad has been a hotly discussed issue since they qualified for the Champions League. Reviewing the fixture list, it always felt like this was the period that would fully examine this capability. Regrettably for the opposition, they appeared fatigued throughout, the memorable win against PSG clearly having had an impact.

Lineup Adjustments

The United manager had sought to rotate the squad with a handful of adjustments. Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all added energy, although the exclusion of the on-form Melvine Malard to the sidelines was questioned.

Manchester City, in contrast, have no similar loading worries. The City coach made a single alteration from last week’s win over Everton with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since healing from injury.

Dominant First Half

The trouble started to build for the United boss and his side from the kickoff. This was a demonstration of the power from Manchester City whose dynamic attack controlled and pulled the visitors apart with a superb initial 45 minutes showing that saw them score three goals in 21 minutes.

This put the hosts completely dominant and left United all at sea. In advance of this fixture, the away side had let in just six in this WSL season but they disintegrated in the presence of the hosts' creative prowess.

Early Chances

The warning signs came quickly when Miedema used her power to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot off target. Lauren Hemp was at the core of everything early on, taking advantage of the space left by Jayde Riviere down United’s wing. Her passes were posing a threat and led to an attempt for Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg cleared off the line.

The Red Devils had a number of forays ahead, their direct style giving them alternatives in the wings but they could not challenge Yamashita. City, on the other hand, controlled possession, taunting their opposition and trying to pull them out of their organization.

Triple Strike

They made their pressure count with almost thirty minutes played when Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A cross to the far post was nodded across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to nod home. It was City’s 7th header of the season.

They extended their advantage with two more goals just before the interval. When Rose was able to maraud through the middle from the back, the field widened for the hosts. The influential Casparij collected the pass on the right side before providing a accurate ground pass for Bunny Shaw to force home. Four minutes later, they had a third goal after a swift turnover in possession saw Hemp allowed the space to fire a effort home from range.

After the Break

The primary substitution came from Skinner at the break as Melvine Malard was introduced for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was futile to shift the momentum of the match. Ex- City player Park came closest, hitting the woodwork, but the away team were offensively poor and failed to record a single shot on goal.

The hosts, meanwhile, could have added to their advantage when a delightful Vivianne Miedema pass sent Shaw away only for her to fluff her lines but it mattered little to the winning team. Having failed to overcome any team who finished above them in the prior term, Jeglertz’s side now have wins against Arsenal and Manchester United to place them in a favorable position after nine matches.