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Much like Storm Claudia swept through the north-west the night before, City overwhelmed Manchester United away at the Etihad. It was a statement three goal win for Andrée Jeglertz’s side due to goals from Knaak, Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a performance that firmly established their championship potential as they reinforced their standing at the top of the table.

Successive Setbacks for Manchester United

This outcome signalled consecutive WSL defeats for Marc Skinner’s side for the initial occasion since last May, leaving them seven points off the league leaders with their championship aspirations severely dented.

Manchester United's capacity to juggle domestic and continental football with a small squad has been a widely debated topic since they earned a place in the Champions League. Looking at the calendar, it always appeared this was the period that would truly test this ability. Regrettably for the visitors, they appeared weary all game, the landmark win against Paris Saint-Germain clearly having had an impact.

Lineup Adjustments

Skinner had sought to make changes with a handful of adjustments. Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Leah Galton all added energy, although the dropping of the on-form Melvine Malard to the sidelines raised a few eyebrows.

Manchester City, in contrast, have no similar workload concerns. Andrée Jeglertz made a single alteration from last week’s win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her first start since returning from injury.

Overpowering Start

The pressure started to accumulate for Skinner and his side from the first whistle. This was a demonstration of the strength from City whose dynamic offense played with and pulled the visitors apart with a excellent first half performance that saw them put three past the keeper in 21 minutes.

This left the home team in a commanding position and had Manchester United struggling. Prior to this fixture, the away side had conceded just a handful in this league campaign but they disintegrated in the presence of City’s attacking flair.

Initial Opportunities

The early indicators came early when Miedema used her strength to push Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot past the post. Hemp was at the heart of everything in the beginning, using the space left by Riviere down the visitors' wing. Her passes were creating danger and led to an opportunity for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had several attacks forwards, their straightforward approach giving them options in the wide areas but they could not challenge Yamashita. Manchester City, on the other hand, dominated possession, teasing their opposition and trying to draw them out of their structure.

Scoring Spree

They turned chances into goals with almost the first period played when Aoba Fujino won the home team a corner. A ball to the far post was nodded across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to head in. It was City’s 7th goal from a cross of the term.

They increased their cushion with two more goals just before the half-time. When Rose was able to maraud through the middle from defense, the field became spacious for the hosts. The key Casparij collected the pass on the wing before providing a accurate driven ball for Shaw to bundle home. A short time later, they had a third goal after a quick shift in the ball saw Hemp allowed the opportunity to strike a effort home from distance.

Final Period

The primary adjustment came from the United manager at the interval as Malard was introduced for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was ineffective to change the course of the game. Ex- Manchester City player Jess Park came most likely to score, striking the post, but the visitors were offensively poor and failed to register a one shot on goal.

The home side, meanwhile, could have increased their lead when a superb Miedema long ball sent Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it mattered little to the hosts. After failing to overcome any side who ended above them last season, the manager's side now have victories against Arsenal and Manchester United to place them in a favorable standing after the opening fixtures.