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Just as the recent storm swept through the north-west the night before, City overwhelmed the visitors aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a convincing three-nil victory for Andrée Jeglertz’s side due to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Hemp. It was a performance that firmly established their leadership claims as they reinforced their standing at the top of the table.

Successive Defeats for United

This scoreline represented successive Women's Super League defeats for Skinner's side for the first time since last May, putting them a significant margin off the league leaders with their title hopes severely dented.

United’s ability to juggle domestic and European soccer with a small squad has been a frequently analyzed topic since they earned a place in the European competition. Looking at the fixture list, it always seemed this was the week that would truly test this fortitude. Unfortunately for the opposition, they seemed weary from start to finish, the landmark win against the French side clearly having taken a toll.

Lineup Adjustments

Skinner had sought to make changes with a handful of adjustments. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all provided energy, although the dropping of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the substitutes caused surprise.

City, in comparison, have no similar fitness concerns. The City coach made one change from last week’s win over the Toffees with Hemp making her return to the lineup since recovering from injury.

Overpowering Start

The storm clouds started to build for the United boss and his side from the opening minute. This was a show of the strength from City whose dynamic forward line played with and tore United open with a sublime initial 45 minutes display that saw them put three past the keeper in under half an hour.

This left the home team firmly in control and saw the visitors struggling. Before this fixture, United had conceded just six in this WSL season but they fell apart in the wake of Manchester City's offensive ingenuity.

Opening Threats

The early indicators came soon when Miedema used her power to push Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot past the post. Lauren Hemp was at the center of everything early on, using the gap left by Jayde Riviere down United’s right flank. Her crosses were creating danger and led to an chance for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had a number of forays ahead, their direct style giving them alternatives in the wide areas but they could not test the City goalkeeper. Manchester City, on the other hand, controlled the ball, probing their rivals and trying to draw them out of their organization.

Goals Galore

They turned chances into goals with almost the first period played when Fujino won the home team a corner. A ball to the back post was headed across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to head in. It was Manchester City's seventh header of the season.

They extended their advantage with another pair of goals just before the break. When Jade Rose was allowed to maraud through the midfield from defense, the play widened for the hosts. The influential Kerstin Casparij received possession on the wing before providing a pinpoint low cross for Shaw to bundle home. Four minutes later, they had a third after a swift shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp afforded the room to fire a shot home from distance.

Second Half

The most obvious adjustment came from Skinner at the break as Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was too late to alter the outcome of the game. Former City player Park came closest, striking the post, but the away team were creatively abject and failed to produce a single shot on goal.

The home side, on the other hand, could have added to their advantage when a superb Miedema pass sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fluff her lines but it mattered little to the winning team. After failing to overcome any team who finished above them the previous campaign, the manager's side now have wins against the Gunners and Manchester United to put them in a strong standing after the opening fixtures.