Man City 3-0 Man United: Lauren Hemp scores in Manchester City dominant win.

Just as the recent storm tore through the northern region the previous evening, City overwhelmed the visitors aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a statement three goal victory for their manager's side thanks to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that clearly signaled their championship potential as they consolidated their place at the WSL pinnacle.

Successive Defeats for Manchester United

This scoreline marked back-to-back league losses for Marc Skinner’s side for the maiden instance since last May, leaving them seven points off the league leaders with their trophy ambitions in serious doubt.

United’s capability to balance league and European soccer with a limited roster has been a hotly discussed topic since they qualified for the European competition. Reviewing the schedule, it always appeared this was the period that would fully examine this ability. Regrettably for the opposition, they appeared weary from start to finish, the landmark win against PSG clearly having taken a toll.

Tactical Shifts

Marc Skinner had tried to rotate the squad with a a few adjustments. Ella Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all brought vigor, although the dropping of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the substitutes caused surprise.

Manchester City, in contrast, have no such workload concerns. The City coach made one adjustment from the previous win over the Toffees with Lauren Hemp making her return to the lineup since returning from injury.

Overpowering Start

The pressure started to build for the United boss and his team from the kickoff. This was a show of the strength from City whose potent forward line played with and pulled the visitors apart with a sublime opening period performance that saw them score three goals in 21 minutes.

This put the hosts completely dominant and left United struggling. In advance of this encounter, United had let in just six in this domestic competition but they fell apart in the presence of Manchester City's attacking flair.

Initial Opportunities

The omens came quickly when Miedema used her physicality to bundle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot past the post. Hemp was at the heart of everything early on, using the space left by Jayde Riviere down United’s right flank. Her crosses were creating danger and led to an attempt for Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg cleared off the line.

United had multiple attacks ahead, their direct style giving them choices in the flanks but they could not trouble the City goalkeeper. Manchester City, meanwhile, dominated the ball, probing their opponents and trying to pull them out of their structure.

Scoring Spree

They turned chances into goals with almost half an hour played when Fujino won the hosts a corner. A ball to the far post was directed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to head in. It was City’s 7th goal from a cross of the campaign.

They increased their advantage with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Jade Rose was permitted to drive through the middle from central defence, the field opened up for the hosts. The influential Kerstin Casparij received possession on the right before delivering a pinpoint ground pass for Shaw to tap home. A short time later, they had a third goal after a rapid turnover in possession saw Lauren Hemp allowed the room to fire a attempt home from range.

After the Break

The clearest change came from Skinner at the half-time as Malard was introduced for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was ineffective to shift the momentum of the match. Ex- City player Park came closest, rattling the upright, but the visitors were creatively abject and were unable to register a solitary shot on target.

The hosts, in contrast, could have increased their advantage when a excellent Miedema pass sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fluff her lines but it did not affect the result to the hosts. After failing to defeat any opponent who placed above them in the prior term, Jeglertz’s side now have successes against the Gunners and Manchester United to put them in a strong standing after the opening fixtures.