Man City Three Goals to Nil The Red Devils: Lauren Hemp finds the net in City dominant win.

Similar to Storm Claudia tore through the north-west the night before, the home side swept Manchester United away at the Etihad. It was a statement 3-0 win for Andrée Jeglertz’s side owing to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Shaw and Hemp. It was a performance that firmly established their title credentials as they reinforced their place at the WSL pinnacle.

Successive Losses for United

This result marked successive league defeats for Marc Skinner’s side for the maiden instance since last May, placing them a sizable gap off the league leaders with their championship aspirations hanging by a thread.

The Red Devils' capacity to juggle league and continental football with a limited team has been a widely debated subject since they earned a place in the European competition. Looking at the calendar, it always seemed this was the week that would seriously challenge this fortitude. Sadly for the away side, they appeared tired all game, the memorable win against PSG clearly having left its mark.

Tactical Shifts

The United manager had attempted to rotate the squad with a several adjustments. Toone, Terland, Janssen and Galton all added energy, although the omission of the in-form Melvine Malard to the bench raised a few eyebrows.

Manchester City, in comparison, have fewer loading worries. Andrée Jeglertz made one adjustment from last week’s win over the Toffees with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since returning from injury.

Commanding Opening Period

The storm clouds started to accumulate for the United boss and his team from the opening minute. This was a demonstration of the strength from Manchester City whose potent attack controlled and tore United open with a excellent initial 45 minutes showing that saw them net a trio in just over twenty minutes.

This put the hosts in a commanding position and left United struggling. Before this encounter, United had conceded just six in this WSL season but they fell apart in the face of the hosts' offensive ingenuity.

Opening Threats

The omens came soon when Vivianne Miedema used her strength to muscle Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot off target. Hemp was at the center of everything in the beginning, using the room left by Riviere down United’s right flank. Her crosses were creating danger and led to an opportunity for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg scrambled off the line.

United had multiple forays ahead, their long-ball tactic giving them alternatives in the wide areas but they could not challenge the City goalkeeper. City, in the meantime, dominated possession, taunting their opponents and trying to pull them out of their structure.

Triple Strike

They converted their dominance with almost the first period played when Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A delivery to the far post was headed across goal by Shaw for Knaak to score. It was City’s 7th header of the term.

They extended their cushion with an additional two goals just before the break. When Jade Rose was able to maraud through the midfield from central defence, the play widened for the hosts. The key Casparij picked the ball up on the right before providing a precise low cross for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. A short time later, they had a third goal after a quick turnover in the ball saw Lauren Hemp given the opportunity to fire a shot home from outside the box.

After the Break

The primary change came from the United manager at the half-time as Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to alter the outcome of the match. Former City player Jess Park came most likely to score, hitting the upright, but the away team were creatively abject and were unable to register a solitary shot on target.

The hosts, on the other hand, could have extended their cushion when a superb Vivianne Miedema long ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it did not affect the result to the hosts. Having failed to defeat any side who ended above them in the prior term, City's side now have wins against the Gunners and United to position them in a strong position after the opening fixtures.