Manchester City 3-0 Man United: Lauren Hemp scores in Manchester City dominant win.

Much like the recent storm hit the northern region the prior day, Manchester City blew United away at the Etihad. It was a convincing three goal victory for their manager's side due to goals from Knaak, Shaw and Hemp. It was a display that clearly signaled their title credentials as they strengthened their position at the league summit.

Successive Setbacks for Manchester United

This result represented successive league defeats for Marc Skinner’s side for the initial occasion since last May, placing them a significant margin off the table toppers with their championship aspirations in serious doubt.

United’s capacity to balance domestic and European soccer with a small team has been a frequently analyzed topic since they qualified for the European competition. Reviewing the schedule, it always appeared this was the period that would truly test this capability. Regrettably for the opposition, they looked fatigued all game, the historic win against Paris Saint-Germain clearly having had an impact.

Lineup Adjustments

The United manager had tried to rotate the squad with a several changes. Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all brought freshness, although the dropping of the on-form Malard to the bench caused surprise.

Manchester City, in opposition, have no similar workload issues. Andrée Jeglertz made one adjustment from the previous win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her first start since returning from injury.

Dominant First Half

The storm clouds started to accumulate for Skinner and his side from the kickoff. This was a exhibition of the quality from Manchester City whose dynamic forward line controlled and tore United open with a superb initial 45 minutes display that saw them net a trio in just over twenty minutes.

This put the hosts firmly in control and saw the visitors struggling. In advance of this encounter, United had conceded just few in this domestic competition but they disintegrated in the wake of Manchester City's offensive ingenuity.

Initial Opportunities

The early indicators came early when Vivianne Miedema used her physicality to push Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot off target. Hemp was at the core of everything in the beginning, taking advantage of the space left by Riviere down the visitors' right side. Her deliveries were posing a threat and led to an attempt for Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg cleared off the line.

The Red Devils had multiple forays forward, their long-ball tactic giving them choices in the wings but they could not test the City goalkeeper. City, on the other hand, commanded possession, teasing their opposition and trying to lure them of their defensive shape.

Triple Strike

They made their pressure count with almost half an hour played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A ball to the back post was nodded across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was Manchester City's 7th headed goal of the campaign.

They extended their cushion with two more goals just before the interval. When Rose was permitted to maraud through the middle from central defence, the pitch widened for the hosts. The key Kerstin Casparij received possession on the right before delivering a accurate driven ball for Shaw to bundle home. Four minutes later, they had a third goal after a quick turnover in possession saw Lauren Hemp allowed the space to strike a attempt home from range.

Second Half

The clearest adjustment came from Skinner at the interval as Melvine Malard was introduced for Terland but by this time it was too late to shift the momentum of the match. Former Manchester City player Park came nearest, striking the woodwork, but the away team were offensively poor and did not manage to register a one shot on target.

The home side, meanwhile, could have added to their advantage when a superb Vivianne Miedema through ball sent Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it mattered little to the hosts. Having failed to overcome any side who placed above them the previous campaign, Jeglertz’s side now have successes against the Gunners and Manchester United to put them in a strong standing after nine matches.