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Just as bad weather swept through the northern region the night before, the home side swept Manchester United away at the Etihad. It was a convincing 3-0 triumph for the City coach's side thanks to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Hemp. It was a display that clearly signaled their leadership claims as they reinforced their place at the WSL pinnacle.

Consecutive Losses for Manchester United

This scoreline marked consecutive WSL setbacks for the United manager's side for the first time since last May, leaving them a sizable gap off the league leaders with their championship aspirations hanging by a thread.

United’s capability to balance league and European football with a small roster has been a hotly discussed topic since they secured entry to the Champions League. Reviewing the schedule, it always appeared this was the week that would seriously challenge this fortitude. Sadly for the visitors, they seemed fatigued all game, the historic win against the French side clearly having had an impact.

Lineup Adjustments

The United manager had sought to freshen things up with a handful of adjustments. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all brought vigor, although the dropping of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the sidelines caused surprise.

City, in contrast, have no similar workload issues. The City coach made one change from the previous win over the Toffees with Lauren Hemp making her return to the lineup since recovering from a fitness issue.

Commanding Opening Period

The pressure started to gather for the United boss and his side from the first whistle. This was a demonstration of the quality from Manchester City whose energetic offense played with and tore United open with a superb first half showing that saw them net a trio in under half an hour.

This left the home team completely dominant and left United all at sea. Prior to this encounter, United had allowed just six in this WSL season but they disintegrated in the wake of Manchester City's creative prowess.

Initial Opportunities

The warning signs came early when Vivianne Miedema used her power to muscle Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot wide. Lauren Hemp was at the heart of everything in the beginning, exploiting the space left by Jayde Riviere down United’s right flank. Her deliveries were causing problems and led to an chance for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

The Red Devils had a number of forays ahead, their straightforward approach giving them options in the wings but they could not test the City goalkeeper. City, in the meantime, commanded the ball, teasing their rivals and trying to pull them out of their structure.

Triple Strike

They turned chances into goals with almost half an hour played when Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A delivery to the far post was headed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Knaak to head in. It was City’s seventh header of the term.

They increased their cushion with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Rose was allowed to drive through the center from central defence, the field opened up for City. The key Casparij picked the ball up on the right before sending a precise driven ball for Bunny Shaw to tap home. Four minutes later, they had a third after a swift change in possession saw Lauren Hemp given the opportunity to drive a shot home from outside the box.

After the Break

The primary adjustment came from the United manager at the break as Melvine Malard entered for Terland but by this time it was too late to shift the momentum of the contest. Ex- City player Jess Park came most likely to score, rattling the post, but the away team were creatively abject and were unable to register a single shot on goal.

The home side, meanwhile, could have increased their advantage when a excellent Vivianne Miedema long ball sent Shaw away only for her to fluff her lines but it did not affect the result to the hosts. Previously unable to defeat any side who finished above them last season, the manager's side now have wins against the Gunners and United to place them in a favorable situation after nine matches.