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Much like the recent storm hit the northern region the prior day, City overwhelmed Manchester United away at the their home ground. It was a convincing three goal win for the City coach's side due to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Hemp. It was a performance that firmly established their leadership claims as they strengthened their place at the top of the table.

Consecutive Setbacks for United

This scoreline represented back-to-back Women's Super League defeats for Marc Skinner’s side for the first time since last May, putting them a sizable gap off the top team with their championship aspirations hanging by a thread.

The Red Devils' ability to balance league and European football with a thin squad has been a widely debated subject since they qualified for the European competition. Looking at the fixture list, it always felt like this was the matchday that would seriously challenge this fortitude. Unfortunately for the away side, they appeared fatigued from start to finish, the memorable win against PSG clearly having taken a toll.

Tactical Shifts

Marc Skinner had sought to freshen things up with a handful of alterations. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Galton all provided energy, although the omission of the in-form Melvine Malard to the substitutes was questioned.

The hosts, in comparison, have no such fitness worries. The City coach made a single alteration from the previous win over Everton with Hemp making her first start since recovering from a physical setback.

Dominant First Half

The storm clouds started to build for Skinner and his squad from the kickoff. This was a show of the strength from City whose dynamic offense 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 in a commanding position and left United all at sea. In advance of this encounter, United had conceded just a handful in this domestic competition but they disintegrated in the wake of Manchester City's attacking flair.

Initial Opportunities

The warning signs came early when Vivianne Miedema used her power to push Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot past the post. Lauren Hemp was at the core of everything early on, exploiting the room left by Riviere down United’s right flank. Her passes were posing a threat and led to an opportunity for Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had multiple attacks ahead, their straightforward approach giving them options in the wide areas but they could not trouble the City goalkeeper. City, meanwhile, commanded the ball, taunting their opposition and trying to pull them out of their organization.

Scoring Spree

They converted their dominance with almost thirty minutes played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a corner. A delivery to the far post was directed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to head in. It was City’s seventh headed goal of the term.

They extended their lead with another pair of goals just before the half-time. When Rose was able to advance through the middle from the back, the field widened for the hosts. The key Kerstin Casparij picked the ball up on the right before providing a pinpoint driven ball for Shaw to bundle home. A short time later, they had a additional score after a swift change in the ball saw Lauren Hemp afforded the opportunity to drive a shot home from distance.

After the Break

The primary adjustment came from Skinner at the half-time as Melvine Malard entered for Terland but by this time it was futile to alter the outcome of the contest. Ex- City player Jess Park came nearest, hitting the woodwork, but the visitors were creatively abject and were unable to record a one shot on goal.

The hosts, in contrast, could have extended their advantage when a excellent Miedema pass sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it mattered little to the hosts. Having failed to beat any team who placed above them the previous campaign, the manager's side now have victories against the Gunners and Manchester United to place them in a favorable situation after the opening fixtures.