Man City 3-0 Manchester United: Hemp finds the net in Manchester City dominant win.

Similar to bad weather hit the northern region the prior day, City swept Manchester United aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a emphatic three goal victory for their manager's side thanks to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Shaw and Hemp. It was a result that clearly signaled their title credentials as they consolidated their standing at the WSL pinnacle.

Back-to-Back Losses for United

This result signalled consecutive league losses for Skinner's side for the first time since last May, placing them a sizable gap off the table toppers with their title hopes in serious doubt.

United’s ability to balance domestic and continental soccer with a small squad has been a hotly discussed subject since they secured entry to the Champions League. Considering the calendar, it always seemed this was the period that would seriously challenge this capability. Sadly for the visitors, they looked fatigued throughout, the memorable win against PSG clearly having taken a toll.

Lineup Adjustments

Marc Skinner had tried to rotate the squad with a several adjustments. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all brought vigor, although the exclusion of the high-performing Malard to the bench was questioned.

The hosts, in contrast, have no similar loading concerns. Andrée Jeglertz made a single alteration from their most recent win over Everton with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since healing from a physical setback.

Commanding Opening Period

The storm clouds started to accumulate for the United boss and his squad from the first whistle. This was a exhibition of the power from Manchester City whose dynamic 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 put the hosts in a commanding position and left United struggling. Prior to this fixture, United had allowed just a handful in this domestic competition but they collapsed in the wake of Manchester City's offensive ingenuity.

Early Chances

The early indicators came quickly when Miedema used her physicality to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot off target. Hemp was at the core of everything early on, taking advantage of the room left by Jayde Riviere down United’s right flank. Her passes were causing problems and led to an attempt for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had multiple attacks forwards, their straightforward approach giving them choices in the flanks but they could not trouble the City goalkeeper. City, meanwhile, commanded the ball, taunting their opponents and trying to pull them out of their organization.

Goals Galore

They made their pressure count with almost thirty minutes played when Fujino won the hosts a corner. A delivery to the far post was nodded across goal by Shaw for Knaak to score. It was City’s 7th headed goal of the term.

They added to their cushion with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Rose was able to maraud through the middle from defense, the pitch became spacious for the hosts. The key Kerstin Casparij received possession on the right before delivering a accurate driven ball for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. Shortly later, they had a additional score after a quick change in the ball saw Lauren Hemp afforded the opportunity to strike a shot home from outside the box.

After the Break

The clearest change came from the United manager at the break as Melvine Malard was introduced for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was futile to change the course of the match. Ex- Manchester City player Jess Park came most likely to score, rattling the woodwork, but the visitors were lacking in ideas and did not manage to register a solitary shot on target.

The hosts, meanwhile, could have added to their cushion when a excellent Miedema through ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it did not affect the result to the winning team. After failing to defeat any side who finished above them the previous campaign, Jeglertz’s side now have successes against the Gunners and Manchester United to place them in a strong position after nine games.