🔗 Share this article

Much like bad weather tore through the north-west the previous evening, the home side blew Manchester United aside at the their home ground. It was a statement 3-0 win for their manager's side owing to goals from Knaak, Shaw and Hemp. It was a display that clearly signaled their title credentials as they consolidated their standing at the WSL pinnacle.

Back-to-Back Losses for United

This scoreline marked successive Women's Super League losses for Marc Skinner’s side for the initial occasion since last May, leaving them a sizable gap off the league leaders with their championship aspirations severely dented.

Manchester United's ability to manage league and European soccer with a small squad has been a widely debated issue since they secured entry to the UCL. Considering the fixture list, it always felt like this was the period that would seriously challenge this capability. Unfortunately for the away side, they looked fatigued throughout, the memorable win against the French side clearly having left its mark.

Tactical Shifts

Skinner had attempted to rotate the squad with a handful of changes. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Leah Galton all brought freshness, although the dropping of the in-form Malard to the substitutes raised a few eyebrows.

City, in opposition, have fewer workload concerns. Andrée Jeglertz made a single alteration from the previous win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her initial starting appearance since returning from a physical setback.

Dominant First Half

The trouble started to gather for Skinner and his squad from the first whistle. This was a show of the strength from Manchester City whose potent forward line controlled and tore United open with a sublime opening period display that saw them net a trio in just over twenty minutes.

This placed City completely dominant and saw the visitors struggling. Before this fixture, the away side had allowed just six in this league campaign but they fell apart in the presence of Manchester City's attacking flair.

Opening Threats

The early indicators came early when Miedema used her strength to push Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot past the post. Lauren Hemp was at the center of everything from the start, exploiting the room left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' right side. Her crosses were creating danger and led to an chance for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg cleared off the line.

United had several attacks forward, their direct style giving them options in the flanks but they could not challenge Ayaka Yamashita. Manchester City, meanwhile, controlled the ball, probing their rivals and trying to lure them of their structure.

Scoring Spree

They made their pressure count with almost the first period played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a corner. A ball to the far post was directed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was City’s seventh header of the term.

They extended their advantage with two more goals just before the interval. When Jade Rose was allowed to maraud through the center from defense, the play became spacious for City. The prominent Casparij collected the pass on the wing before sending a accurate low cross for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. A short time later, they had a third goal after a quick shift in the ball saw Hemp allowed the room to strike a effort home from outside the box.

After the Break

The clearest substitution came from the United manager at the interval as Melvine Malard came on for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was ineffective to change the course of the game. Former City player Park came closest, hitting the woodwork, but the visitors were creatively abject and failed to record a solitary shot on goal.

The home side, on the other hand, could have added to their lead when a excellent Miedema pass sent Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it did not affect the result to the winning team. Previously unable to defeat any side who placed above them the previous campaign, Jeglertz’s side now have wins against Arsenal and Manchester United to put them in a favorable situation after nine games.