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Similar to bad weather tore through the northern region the previous evening, the home side swept United away at the Etihad Stadium. It was a emphatic 3-0 win for the City coach's side thanks to goals from Knaak, Shaw and Hemp. It was a result that truly announced their championship potential as they reinforced their place at the WSL pinnacle.

Successive Defeats for Manchester United

This outcome signalled consecutive league defeats for Skinner's side for the initial occasion since last May, putting them a sizable gap off the league leaders with their trophy ambitions in serious doubt.

Manchester United's capability to manage league and continental football with a thin roster has been a widely debated topic since they earned a place in the European competition. Reviewing the fixture list, it always appeared this was the week that would truly test this ability. Regrettably for the visitors, they seemed weary all game, the landmark win against the French side clearly having taken a toll.

Team Changes

The United manager had tried to rotate the squad with a handful of adjustments. Ella Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all provided freshness, although the exclusion of the on-form Malard to the bench caused surprise.

City, in opposition, have no such workload concerns. Andrée Jeglertz made one change from last week’s win over the Toffees with Hemp making her first start since recovering from injury.

Overpowering Start

The pressure started to build for Skinner and his team from the first whistle. This was a show of the strength from City whose dynamic forward line played with and tore United open with a superb first half performance that saw them net a trio in just over twenty minutes.

This put the hosts completely dominant and had Manchester United struggling. Before this encounter, United had conceded just few in this league campaign but they disintegrated in the presence of Manchester City's creative prowess.

Opening Threats

The warning signs came soon when Vivianne Miedema used her strength to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot wide. Hemp was at the core of everything in the beginning, exploiting the gap left by Riviere down United’s right flank. Her crosses were causing problems and led to an attempt for Yui Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.

The Red Devils had several forays ahead, their direct style giving them options in the wings but they could not test Ayaka Yamashita. Manchester City, meanwhile, dominated possession, probing their opponents and trying to lure them of their organization.

Scoring Spree

They made their pressure count with almost thirty minutes played when Aoba Fujino won the home team a set-piece. A ball to the far post was nodded across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was Manchester City's 7th header of the campaign.

They increased their advantage with an additional two goals just before the interval. When Rose was allowed to maraud through the middle from the back, the play became spacious for City. The key Kerstin Casparij collected the pass on the right side before delivering a accurate ground pass for Bunny Shaw to tap home. A short time later, they had a third goal after a swift change in possession saw Lauren Hemp allowed the space to fire a shot home from distance.

Final Period

The most obvious substitution came from the United manager at the interval as Malard entered for Terland but by this time it was futile to change the course of the contest. Ex- Manchester City player Jess Park came most likely to score, hitting the upright, but the visitors were creatively abject and were unable to register a solitary shot on target.

The hosts, in contrast, could have increased their lead when a superb Vivianne Miedema long ball sent Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it did not affect the result to the winning team. After failing to overcome any opponent who finished above them the previous campaign, Jeglertz’s side now have victories against the Gunners and United to position them in a commanding position after nine matches.