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Just as bad weather hit the north-west the night before, the home side overwhelmed the visitors aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a convincing three goal triumph for Andrée Jeglertz’s side owing to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Hemp. It was a result that truly announced their championship potential as they strengthened their position at the league summit.

Successive Setbacks for United

This outcome represented consecutive Women's Super League defeats for Marc Skinner’s side for the initial occasion since last May, putting them a sizable gap off the top team with their trophy ambitions hanging by a thread.

Manchester United's capacity to balance league and European soccer with a limited roster has been a hotly discussed subject since they secured entry to the Champions League. Looking at the schedule, it always appeared this was the matchday that would truly test this capability. Unfortunately for the away side, they looked fatigued from start to finish, the historic win against Paris Saint-Germain clearly having left its mark.

Tactical Shifts

Marc Skinner had tried to rotate the squad with a several changes. Ella Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all provided freshness, although the exclusion of the in-form Melvine Malard to the bench was questioned.

Manchester City, in comparison, have no such fitness worries. Jeglertz made one adjustment from last week’s win over the Toffees with Hemp making her first start since recovering from a fitness issue.

Dominant First Half

The pressure started to accumulate for the United boss and his team from the opening minute. This was a show of the quality from Manchester City whose potent forward line manipulated and tore United open with a superb opening period display that saw them net a trio in under half an hour.

This put the hosts in a commanding position and saw the visitors disorganized. In advance of this match, United had let in just a handful in this domestic competition but they fell apart in the presence of City’s attacking flair.

Opening Threats

The warning signs came quickly when Miedema used her strength to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot wide. Hemp was at the heart of everything early on, taking advantage of the space left by Riviere down United’s wing. Her deliveries were creating danger and led to an attempt for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg cleared off the line.

The Red Devils had a number of attacks ahead, their straightforward approach giving them choices in the flanks but they could not challenge Yamashita. Manchester City, on the other hand, commanded the ball, taunting their opposition and trying to pull them out of their defensive shape.

Goals Galore

They turned chances into goals with almost half an hour played when Aoba Fujino won the home team a set-piece. A cross to the far post was nodded across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to nod home. It was Manchester City's 7th headed goal of the term.

They added to their cushion with an additional two goals just before the break. When Rose was able to maraud through the middle from the back, the field became spacious for the hosts. The influential Casparij picked the ball up on the wing before providing a pinpoint driven ball for Bunny Shaw to tap home. A short time later, they had a third after a swift shift in the ball saw Hemp afforded the space to fire a effort home from outside the box.

After the Break

The clearest substitution came from the United manager at the break as Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was too late to shift the momentum of the match. Ex- Manchester City player Jess Park came closest, striking the upright, but the visitors were offensively poor and were unable to produce a single shot on target.

The home side, meanwhile, could have extended their advantage when a excellent Miedema long ball sent Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it did not affect the result to the hosts. After failing to beat any side who placed above them in the prior term, Jeglertz’s side now have wins against Arsenal and United to place them in a strong position after nine matches.