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Just as Storm Claudia tore through the northwest the previous evening, the home side blew Manchester United away at the Etihad Stadium. It was a statement 3-0 victory for Andrée Jeglertz’s side due to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a display that firmly established their championship potential as they reinforced their position at the league summit.

Successive Defeats for Manchester United

This scoreline represented successive WSL defeats for the United manager's side for the first time since last May, putting them seven points off the top team with their title hopes hanging by a thread.

United’s capability to balance domestic and European soccer with a small roster has been a hotly discussed subject since they earned a place in the UCL. Looking at the fixture list, it always appeared this was the period that would seriously challenge this capability. Sadly for the visitors, they appeared weary from start to finish, the historic win against Paris Saint-Germain clearly having left its mark.

Lineup Adjustments

The United manager had tried to rotate the squad with a handful of alterations. Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all brought energy, although the dropping of the on-form Melvine Malard to the bench was questioned.

City, in opposition, have no similar fitness issues. Andrée Jeglertz made a single alteration from last week’s win over Everton with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since recovering from a physical setback.

Commanding Opening Period

The pressure started to gather for Skinner and his side from the opening minute. This was a demonstration of the strength from City whose energetic forward line played with and pulled the visitors apart with a sublime initial 45 minutes display that saw them put three past the keeper in just over twenty minutes.

This left the home team in a commanding position and saw the visitors disorganized. Prior to this encounter, United had let in just few in this league campaign but they fell apart in the face of Manchester City's offensive ingenuity.

Early Chances

The early indicators came quickly when Vivianne Miedema used her power to bundle Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot off target. Lauren Hemp was at the heart of everything in the beginning, taking advantage of the gap left by Jayde Riviere down United’s right flank. Her passes were creating danger and led to an chance for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had multiple forays forward, their straightforward approach giving them alternatives in the wide areas but they could not challenge Ayaka Yamashita. Manchester City, in the meantime, controlled possession, taunting their opposition and trying to draw them out of their structure.

Scoring Spree

They made their pressure count with almost thirty minutes played when Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A delivery to the far post was headed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was City’s seventh header of the season.

They extended their lead with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Rose was allowed to drive through the middle from the back, the field became spacious for the hosts. The key Kerstin Casparij collected the pass on the right before providing a accurate ground pass for Shaw to force home. Shortly later, they had a third after a swift turnover in the ball saw Hemp afforded the space to strike a shot home from range.

Final Period

The most obvious adjustment came from the United manager at the break as Malard was introduced for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to change the course of the contest. Ex- City player Jess Park came closest, hitting the post, but the visitors were lacking in ideas and failed to produce a one shot on goal.

The home side, meanwhile, could have added to their cushion when a delightful Miedema pass sent Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it mattered little to the hosts. Having failed to beat any team who ended above them in the prior term, City's side now have wins against the Gunners and United to put them in a commanding situation after the opening fixtures.