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Much like bad weather tore through the northwest the previous evening, City overwhelmed Manchester United aside at the their home ground. It was a convincing three-nil triumph for Andrée Jeglertz’s side owing to goals from Knaak, Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a performance that firmly established their leadership claims as they strengthened their place at the WSL pinnacle.

Back-to-Back Losses for Manchester United

This scoreline signalled consecutive WSL losses for the United manager's side for the initial occasion since last May, leaving them a significant margin off the table toppers with their championship aspirations in serious doubt.

Manchester United's ability to juggle domestic and continental football with a thin team has been a frequently analyzed subject since they earned a place in the Champions League. Considering the calendar, it always appeared this was the matchday that would truly test this fortitude. Regrettably for the away side, they seemed weary from start to finish, the historic win against the French side clearly having left its mark.

Lineup Adjustments

Skinner had tried to freshen things up with a handful of alterations. Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all provided freshness, although the exclusion of the on-form Melvine Malard to the sidelines was questioned.

City, in contrast, have no similar loading concerns. Andrée Jeglertz made one change from last week’s win over the Toffees with Hemp making her first start since returning from a physical setback.

Dominant First Half

The pressure started to build for the United boss and his side from the first whistle. This was a show of the quality from City whose potent attack played with and pulled the visitors apart with a sublime initial 45 minutes showing that saw them score three goals in just over twenty minutes.

This left the home team firmly in control and saw the visitors disorganized. Before this encounter, the away side had allowed just a handful in this league campaign but they collapsed in the face of Manchester City's attacking flair.

Early Chances

The early indicators came early when Vivianne Miedema used her power to push Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot past the post. Lauren Hemp was at the heart of everything early on, taking advantage of the room left by Riviere down United’s right side. Her deliveries were creating danger and led to an opportunity for Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg scrambled off the line.

United had several forays forward, their direct style giving them alternatives in the flanks but they could not trouble Ayaka Yamashita. Manchester City, in the meantime, commanded the ball, teasing their opposition and trying to lure them of their structure.

Triple Strike

They converted their dominance with almost half an hour played when Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A ball to the back post was nodded across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to nod home. It was City’s seventh header of the season.

They extended their advantage with two more goals just before the interval. When Rose was able to advance through the midfield from central defence, the pitch became spacious for the hosts. The influential Casparij received possession on the right before providing a pinpoint ground pass for Shaw to tap home. Four minutes later, they had a third goal after a swift shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp given the opportunity to fire a shot home from distance.

After the Break

The most obvious substitution came from Skinner at the interval as Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was futile to shift the momentum of the match. Ex- City player Park came closest, striking the post, but the visitors were creatively abject and failed to record a solitary shot on target.

The home side, in contrast, could have added to their advantage when a excellent Miedema long ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fluff her lines but it mattered little to the winning team. Having failed to beat any opponent who finished above them last season, Jeglertz’s side now have victories against Arsenal and Manchester United to put them in a favorable position after the opening fixtures.