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Similar to the recent storm hit the northwest the night before, the home side swept the visitors aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a emphatic 3-0 triumph for their manager's side due to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that firmly established their title credentials as they reinforced their place at the league summit.

Successive Defeats for Manchester United

This scoreline signalled consecutive league defeats for Marc Skinner’s side for the first time since last May, placing them a sizable gap off the table toppers with their trophy ambitions severely dented.

Manchester United's capacity to balance domestic and European soccer with a thin roster has been a hotly discussed subject since they secured entry to the Champions League. Considering the schedule, it always appeared this was the week that would seriously challenge this ability. Unfortunately for the visitors, they seemed tired from start to finish, the landmark win against the French side clearly having had an impact.

Team Changes

The United manager had tried to freshen things up with a handful of changes. Ella Toone, Terland, Janssen and Leah Galton all provided freshness, although the exclusion of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the sidelines caused surprise.

The hosts, in comparison, have fewer workload issues. Andrée Jeglertz made one adjustment from last week’s win over the Toffees with Hemp making her first start since healing from a fitness issue.

Dominant First Half

The trouble started to build for Skinner and his side from the kickoff. This was a exhibition of the strength from Manchester City whose energetic forward line played with and pulled the visitors apart with a sublime opening period showing that saw them score three goals in under half an hour.

This left the home team in a commanding position and left United struggling. In advance of this fixture, the away side had conceded just few in this league campaign but they disintegrated in the wake of Manchester City's offensive ingenuity.

Opening Threats

The omens came quickly when Vivianne Miedema used her power to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot past the post. Hemp was at the core of everything from the start, using the space left by Jayde Riviere down United’s right side. Her deliveries were causing problems and led to an attempt for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg scrambled off the line.

United had a number of sorties forwards, their direct style giving them options in the wide areas but they could not test Ayaka Yamashita. Manchester City, on the other hand, commanded the ball, probing their opponents and trying to pull them out of their structure.

Triple Strike

They converted their dominance with almost the first period played when Fujino won the home team a corner. A delivery to the back post was directed across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was Manchester City's 7th goal from a cross of the campaign.

They extended their lead with another pair of goals just before the half-time. When Rose was able to drive through the midfield from central defence, the pitch opened up for the hosts. The key Casparij collected the pass on the right before providing a precise driven ball for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. Four minutes later, they had a third goal after a quick shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp given the room to strike a attempt home from outside the box.

After the Break

The most obvious substitution came from the United manager at the half-time as Melvine Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was futile to alter the outcome of the match. Ex- City player Jess Park came closest, rattling the woodwork, but the visitors were lacking in ideas and did not manage to produce a solitary shot on target.

The home side, in contrast, could have extended their cushion when a superb Vivianne Miedema pass sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it was insignificant to the winning team. Having failed to defeat any team who placed above them the previous campaign, Jeglertz’s side now have victories against the Gunners and Manchester United to position them in a commanding standing after the opening fixtures.