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Much like the recent storm hit the north-west the night before, City blew the visitors away at the their home ground. It was a convincing three-nil win for the City coach's side owing to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that firmly established their championship potential as they strengthened their standing at the WSL pinnacle.

Successive Losses for Manchester United

This outcome marked consecutive league defeats for Skinner's side for the first time since last May, placing them a significant margin off the top team with their trophy ambitions hanging by a thread.

Manchester United's capability to manage league and European football with a small team has been a hotly discussed topic since they qualified for the Champions League. Looking at the fixture list, it always felt like this was the period that would truly test this fortitude. Sadly for the opposition, they seemed tired throughout, the landmark win against the French side clearly having left its mark.

Team Changes

Skinner had sought to make changes with a several changes. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Galton all provided vigor, although the dropping of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the bench raised a few eyebrows.

The hosts, in contrast, have fewer loading concerns. The City coach made one change from their most recent win over the Toffees with Lauren Hemp making her first start since recovering from a fitness issue.

Commanding Opening Period

The pressure started to accumulate for the United boss and his team from the kickoff. This was a show of the power from City whose potent offense controlled and dismantled the opposition with a excellent initial 45 minutes performance that saw them net a trio in just over twenty minutes.

This put the hosts in a commanding position and saw the visitors struggling. Prior to this fixture, United had let in just a handful in this WSL season but they disintegrated in the presence of City’s creative prowess.

Initial Opportunities

The omens came early when Vivianne Miedema used her strength to muscle Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot wide. Lauren Hemp was at the core of everything from the start, taking advantage of the room left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' wing. Her deliveries were causing problems and led to an attempt for Yui Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had a number of forays forward, their straightforward approach giving them choices in the wings but they could not trouble Ayaka Yamashita. Manchester City, meanwhile, dominated possession, probing their rivals and trying to draw them out of their defensive shape.

Scoring Spree

They made their pressure count with almost the first period played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A ball to the back post was nodded across goal by Shaw for Knaak to score. It was City’s 7th headed goal of the term.

They increased their advantage with an additional two goals just before the half-time. When Jade Rose was able to maraud through the middle from defense, the play became spacious for the hosts. The influential Kerstin Casparij collected the pass on the right before delivering a precise ground pass for Shaw to bundle home. Shortly later, they had a third after a rapid change in possession saw Lauren Hemp allowed the room to strike a shot home from outside the box.

Second Half

The primary substitution came from Skinner at the interval as Melvine Malard entered for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was too late to alter the outcome of the contest. Ex- City player Jess Park came closest, hitting the post, but the visitors were creatively abject and failed to record a single shot on target.

The home side, on the other hand, could have increased their lead when a superb Vivianne Miedema pass sent Shaw away only for her to fluff her lines but it was insignificant to the winning team. Previously unable to defeat any team who finished above them last season, the manager's side now have wins against the Gunners and United to put them in a favorable standing after the opening fixtures.