The Citizens Three-Nil Manchester United: Lauren Hemp scores in City comfortable victory.

Just as bad weather tore through the northern region the night before, City swept Manchester United away at the Etihad. It was a emphatic three goal triumph for their manager's side due to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Hemp. It was a result that truly announced their leadership claims as they consolidated their position at the league summit.

Successive Losses for Manchester United

This outcome marked consecutive league defeats for the United manager's side for the maiden instance since last May, leaving them a sizable gap off the league leaders with their title hopes severely dented.

The Red Devils' ability to manage league and European football with a small team has been a hotly discussed topic since they qualified for the UCL. Reviewing the schedule, it always seemed this was the period that would truly test this ability. Sadly for the opposition, they seemed tired all game, the landmark win against PSG clearly having had an impact.

Team Changes

Marc Skinner had tried to freshen things up with a handful of changes. Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all added energy, although the omission of the on-form Melvine Malard to the substitutes raised a few eyebrows.

Manchester City, in comparison, have fewer fitness worries. The City coach made a single alteration from last week’s win over Everton with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since healing from a fitness issue.

Commanding Opening Period

The trouble started to gather for the United boss and his team from the opening minute. This was a exhibition of the power from City whose dynamic offense manipulated and dismantled the opposition with a excellent initial 45 minutes showing that saw them net a trio in 21 minutes.

This put the hosts completely dominant and left United struggling. Prior to this fixture, the away side had conceded just few in this domestic competition but they fell apart in the face of Manchester City's offensive ingenuity.

Initial Opportunities

The omens came early when Miedema used her power to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot past the post. Hemp was at the heart of everything in the beginning, exploiting the space left by Riviere down United’s right flank. Her crosses were causing problems and led to an opportunity for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg cleared off the line.

The Red Devils had multiple attacks forward, their long-ball tactic giving them choices in the wide areas but they could not trouble Yamashita. Manchester City, on the other hand, commanded the ball, taunting their opposition and trying to draw them out 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 far post was headed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was Manchester City's 7th goal from a cross of the campaign.

They extended their advantage with two more goals just before the break. When Rose was able to drive through the center from central defence, the field became spacious for the hosts. The prominent Kerstin Casparij received possession on the right side before sending a precise ground pass for Bunny Shaw to tap home. A short time later, they had a additional score after a rapid shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp given the space to fire a effort home from range.

Final Period

The most obvious substitution came from the United manager at the break as Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was too late to change the course of the match. Former City player Park came closest, striking the upright, but the away team were offensively poor and did not manage to produce a solitary shot on target.

The home side, in contrast, could have added to their advantage when a delightful Miedema pass sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it mattered little to the winning team. After failing to defeat any side who placed above them the previous campaign, City's side now have successes against the Gunners and United to place them in a favorable situation after nine games.