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Just as bad weather tore through the north-west the night before, City overwhelmed United aside at the Etihad. It was a convincing 3-0 triumph for their manager's side thanks to goals from Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that firmly established their leadership claims as they strengthened their standing at the WSL pinnacle.

Successive Defeats for United

This scoreline signalled back-to-back WSL losses for Marc Skinner’s side for the first time since last May, leaving them a sizable gap off the league leaders with their title hopes severely dented.

United’s capacity to juggle league and continental soccer with a thin squad has been a frequently analyzed subject since they earned a place in the UCL. Considering the fixture list, it always felt like this was the week that would seriously challenge this fortitude. Regrettably for the visitors, they looked tired throughout, the landmark win against Paris Saint-Germain clearly having taken a toll.

Team Changes

The United manager had tried to freshen things up with a handful of alterations. Ella Toone, Terland, Janssen and Leah Galton all provided freshness, although the omission of the in-form Melvine Malard to the substitutes raised a few eyebrows.

City, in opposition, have fewer workload concerns. Jeglertz made one change from last week’s win over the Toffees with Lauren Hemp making her first start since returning from injury.

Commanding Opening Period

The storm clouds started to gather for the United boss and his squad from the first whistle. This was a exhibition of the strength from City whose potent forward line manipulated and tore United open with a superb opening period performance that saw them score three goals in 21 minutes.

This left the home team in a commanding position and had Manchester United disorganized. In advance of this match, the away side had let in just a handful in this domestic competition but they collapsed in the presence of the hosts' creative prowess.

Early Chances

The warning signs came soon when Miedema used her physicality to push Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot wide. Lauren Hemp was at the core of everything in the beginning, using the room left by Jayde Riviere down United’s right side. Her crosses were creating danger and led to an attempt for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg scrambled off the line.

The Red Devils had several sorties forwards, their long-ball tactic giving them options in the flanks but they could not test Yamashita. City, meanwhile, controlled possession, teasing their rivals and trying to draw them out of their organization.

Triple Strike

They turned chances into goals with almost thirty minutes played when Aoba Fujino won the home team a set-piece. A delivery to the far post was headed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Knaak to nod home. It was Manchester City's seventh headed goal of the campaign.

They extended their lead with another pair of goals just before the half-time. When Jade Rose was permitted to maraud through the middle from defense, the field became spacious for City. The influential Kerstin Casparij received possession on the right side before sending a pinpoint driven ball for Shaw to tap home. Four minutes later, they had a third goal after a swift turnover in the ball saw Lauren Hemp given the opportunity to fire a effort home from range.

After the Break

The clearest change came from Skinner at the half-time as Malard entered for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was ineffective to change the course of the game. Former Manchester City player Park came most likely to score, hitting the post, but the visitors were offensively poor and failed to record a single shot on target.

The home side, meanwhile, could have added to their lead when a delightful Miedema through ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it did not affect the result to the winning team. Having failed to beat any team who placed above them the previous campaign, Jeglertz’s side now have successes against the Gunners and Manchester United to position them in a favorable position after the opening fixtures.