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Much like the recent storm swept through the northern region the previous evening, City blew Manchester United aside at the their home ground. It was a statement three goal triumph for the City coach's side owing to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a display that firmly established their championship potential as they consolidated their place at the WSL pinnacle.

Consecutive Setbacks for United

This scoreline signalled consecutive WSL losses for Skinner's side for the first time since last May, leaving them a sizable gap off the table toppers with their title hopes severely dented.

Manchester United's capacity to balance domestic and continental football with a thin squad has been a hotly discussed subject since they qualified for the European competition. Looking at the schedule, it always seemed this was the matchday that would truly test this fortitude. Unfortunately for the opposition, they seemed tired all game, the memorable win against PSG clearly having had an impact.

Team Changes

Skinner had tried to make changes with a several alterations. Ella Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all added energy, although the omission of the in-form Malard to the substitutes caused surprise.

The hosts, in contrast, have no similar loading issues. Andrée Jeglertz made one adjustment from last week’s win over Everton with Hemp making her first start since returning from injury.

Commanding Opening Period

The storm clouds started to build for Skinner and his side from the first whistle. This was a show of the strength from City whose dynamic attack controlled and dismantled the opposition with a sublime initial 45 minutes performance that saw them net a trio in just over twenty minutes.

This placed City in a commanding position and left United disorganized. In advance of this fixture, United had conceded just six in this domestic competition but they disintegrated in the presence of Manchester City's attacking flair.

Initial Opportunities

The early indicators came soon when Vivianne Miedema used her strength to push Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot wide. Lauren Hemp was at the core of everything early on, taking advantage of the room left by Riviere down the visitors' right flank. Her deliveries were causing problems and led to an chance for Hasegawa that Sandberg scrambled off the line.

The Red Devils had multiple forays forwards, their straightforward approach giving them choices in the wings but they could not challenge Yamashita. Manchester City, in the meantime, commanded the ball, teasing their opposition and trying to pull them out of their defensive shape.

Scoring Spree

They converted their dominance with almost half an hour played when Aoba Fujino won the home team a set-piece. 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 term.

They extended their advantage with another pair of goals just before the half-time. When Jade Rose was allowed to advance through the middle from the back, the play widened for City. The key Kerstin Casparij collected the pass on the right before sending a pinpoint ground pass for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. Shortly later, they had a third after a quick turnover in possession saw Lauren Hemp afforded the room to fire a effort home from distance.

After the Break

The most obvious change came from the United manager at the half-time as Melvine Malard entered for Terland but by this time it was futile to change the course of the match. Ex- City player Jess Park came most likely to score, striking the post, but the away team were lacking in ideas and failed to register a single shot on target.

The home side, meanwhile, could have added to their cushion when a excellent Miedema long ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it was insignificant to the winning team. After failing to overcome any team who ended above them in the prior term, City's side now have successes against Arsenal and United to put them in a favorable situation after the opening fixtures.