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Similar to the recent storm hit the northwest the night before, the home side swept Manchester United away at the Etihad. It was a convincing 3-0 victory for the City coach's side owing to goals from Knaak, Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a performance that firmly established their title credentials as they reinforced their place at the league summit.

Consecutive Setbacks for Manchester United

This result signalled consecutive WSL setbacks for Marc Skinner’s side for the first time since last May, placing them seven points off the table toppers with their trophy ambitions hanging by a thread.

The Red Devils' ability to juggle league and European football with a thin team has been a hotly discussed topic since they secured entry to the European competition. Looking at the calendar, it always felt like this was the matchday that would truly test this fortitude. Regrettably for the visitors, they seemed fatigued all game, the historic win against Paris Saint-Germain clearly having taken a toll.

Tactical Shifts

Skinner had tried to rotate the squad with a several alterations. Ella Toone, Terland, Janssen and Galton all provided vigor, although the omission of the on-form Malard to the substitutes was questioned.

Manchester City, in contrast, have no such loading worries. The City coach made one change from the previous win over the Toffees with Lauren Hemp making her return to the lineup since healing from a physical setback.

Commanding Opening Period

The pressure started to build for the United boss and his team from the first whistle. This was a show of the quality from City whose energetic attack played with and tore United open with a sublime opening period performance that saw them score three goals in under half an hour.

This put the hosts in a commanding position and left United struggling. Prior to this match, United had let in just a handful in this WSL season but they collapsed in the face of the hosts' attacking flair.

Early Chances

The early indicators came early when Vivianne Miedema used her strength to muscle Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot off target. Hemp was at the core of everything early on, using the gap left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' right side. Her deliveries were causing problems and led to an attempt for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg scrambled off the line.

United had multiple sorties forward, their direct style giving them alternatives in the wings but they could not trouble Yamashita. Manchester City, in the meantime, commanded possession, taunting their opposition and trying to pull them out of their defensive shape.

Scoring Spree

They made their pressure count with almost thirty minutes played when Fujino won the home team a corner. A delivery to the far post was headed across goal by Shaw for Knaak to head in. It was Manchester City's seventh goal from a cross of the season.

They added to their advantage with an additional two goals just before the half-time. When Rose was allowed to drive through the center from defense, the pitch opened up for City. The prominent Casparij collected the pass on the right side before sending a accurate ground pass for Shaw to bundle home. Shortly later, they had a additional score after a rapid shift in the ball saw Hemp allowed the room to fire a shot home from range.

After the Break

The primary change came from Skinner at the interval as Malard was introduced for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to alter the outcome of the match. Former City player Jess Park came closest, hitting the post, but the away team were offensively poor and did not manage to record a single shot on goal.

The hosts, in contrast, could have increased their cushion when a excellent Vivianne Miedema long ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it was insignificant to the winning team. Previously unable to beat any team who ended above them in the prior term, City's side now have wins against Arsenal and Manchester United to position them in a commanding situation after the opening fixtures.