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Just as Storm Claudia tore through the north-west the prior day, Manchester City overwhelmed Manchester United aside at the Etihad. It was a convincing three goal victory for Andrée Jeglertz’s side owing to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a performance that truly announced their championship potential as they reinforced their place at the league summit.

Back-to-Back Losses for United

This outcome signalled successive Women's Super League losses for Marc Skinner’s side for the first time since last May, placing them a significant margin off the table toppers with their title hopes in serious doubt.

United’s ability to juggle domestic and continental soccer with a small roster has been a hotly discussed issue since they secured entry to the Champions League. Reviewing the schedule, it always seemed this was the matchday that would fully examine this ability. Unfortunately for the visitors, they looked tired all game, the memorable win against PSG clearly having left its mark.

Tactical Shifts

The United manager had tried to freshen things up with a several changes. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Galton all provided freshness, although the exclusion of the high-performing Malard to the bench was questioned.

City, in opposition, have no such workload concerns. Jeglertz made a single alteration from their most recent win over the Toffees with Lauren Hemp making her initial starting appearance since healing from a fitness issue.

Dominant First Half

The storm clouds started to accumulate for the United boss and his side from the first whistle. This was a exhibition of the strength from Manchester City whose energetic offense played with and dismantled the opposition with a excellent opening period showing that saw them net a trio in just over twenty minutes.

This put the hosts firmly in control and saw the visitors disorganized. Before this fixture, the away side had let in just a handful in this league campaign but they collapsed in the face of the hosts' offensive ingenuity.

Early Chances

The early indicators came quickly when Miedema used her physicality to bundle Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot off target. Hemp was at the core of everything early on, taking advantage of the room left by Riviere down the visitors' right side. Her deliveries were posing a threat and led to an opportunity for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg scrambled off the line.

The Red Devils had a number of attacks forward, their direct style giving them options in the wings but they could not challenge the City goalkeeper. City, in the meantime, controlled the ball, taunting their opponents and trying to pull them out of their organization.

Goals Galore

They made their pressure count with almost the first period played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a corner. A cross to the back post was nodded across goal by Shaw for Knaak to score. It was Manchester City's 7th header of the term.

They increased their cushion with two more goals just before the break. When Jade Rose was able to maraud through the middle from central defence, the field opened up for the hosts. The prominent Casparij received possession on the wing before providing a precise driven ball for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. Shortly later, they had a additional score after a swift turnover in the ball saw Hemp afforded the space to fire a effort home from outside the box.

After the Break

The primary substitution came from the United manager at the interval as Malard was introduced for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to shift the momentum of the match. Ex- City player Jess Park came most likely to score, hitting the upright, but the away team were offensively poor and failed to produce a single shot on goal.

The home side, in contrast, could have extended their cushion when a excellent Miedema through ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it was insignificant to the winning team. After failing to defeat any team who placed above them the previous campaign, the manager's side now have successes against the Gunners and Manchester United to place them in a commanding situation after nine games.