Manchester City 3-0 The Red Devils: Hemp scores in City dominant win.

Much like the recent storm hit the north-west the night before, City swept United aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a convincing three-nil win for the City coach's side thanks to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a performance that truly announced their title credentials as they strengthened their standing at the league summit.

Back-to-Back Setbacks for United

This result represented successive Women's Super League losses for Marc Skinner’s side for the first time since last May, putting them a sizable gap off the table toppers with their trophy ambitions severely dented.

Manchester United's capacity to manage domestic and continental football with a small roster has been a widely debated issue since they qualified for the Champions League. Looking at the fixture list, it always seemed this was the week that would fully examine this fortitude. Unfortunately for the visitors, they seemed fatigued from start to finish, the historic win against the French side clearly having taken a toll.

Team Changes

The United manager had sought to freshen things up with a handful of alterations. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Galton all provided freshness, although the omission of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the sidelines caused surprise.

The hosts, in opposition, have fewer loading concerns. The City coach made one adjustment from the previous win over Everton with Hemp making her return to the lineup since healing from a fitness issue.

Overpowering Start

The storm clouds started to accumulate for the United boss and his team from the first whistle. This was a show of the power from Manchester City whose energetic offense manipulated and pulled the visitors apart with a excellent opening period performance that saw them score three goals in under half an hour.

This placed City firmly in control and had Manchester United disorganized. In advance of this match, United had allowed just six in this WSL season but they fell apart in the presence of the hosts' creative prowess.

Opening Threats

The early indicators came quickly when Miedema used her physicality to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot off target. Lauren Hemp was at the core of everything from the start, using the room left by Riviere down the visitors' wing. Her crosses were posing a threat and led to an chance for Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had multiple attacks forward, their straightforward approach giving them alternatives in the wide areas but they could not test Ayaka Yamashita. City, on the other hand, commanded the ball, taunting 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 Aoba Fujino won the home team a corner. A cross to the back post was headed across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to nod home. It was Manchester City's seventh goal from a cross of the season.

They added to their cushion with an additional two goals just before the interval. When Rose was permitted to advance through the center from central defence, the field became spacious for City. The key Casparij received possession on the wing before delivering a precise ground pass for Shaw to force home. A short time later, they had a additional score after a rapid change in possession saw Hemp allowed the space to strike a effort home from outside the box.

After the Break

The most obvious change came from Skinner at the interval as Malard was introduced for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was too late to alter the outcome of the match. Former Manchester City player Jess Park came nearest, rattling the upright, but the away team were creatively abject and did not manage to record a single shot on goal.

The home side, meanwhile, could have increased their cushion when a superb Vivianne Miedema pass sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it mattered little to the winning team. Previously unable to defeat any team who finished above them the previous campaign, City's side now have successes against the Gunners and Manchester United to put them in a favorable situation after the opening fixtures.