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Similar to the recent storm swept through the northwest the night before, Manchester City swept the visitors aside at the Etihad Stadium. It was a convincing three goal triumph for their manager's side thanks to goals from Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that truly announced their title credentials as they consolidated their standing at the league summit.

Back-to-Back Defeats for United

This result represented successive WSL defeats for the United manager's side for the maiden instance since last May, leaving them a significant margin off the top team with their trophy ambitions severely dented.

Manchester United's capability to manage league and continental football with a thin squad has been a widely debated subject since they earned a place in the Champions League. Looking at the fixture list, it always seemed this was the period that would fully examine this capability. Sadly for the visitors, they seemed tired all game, the memorable win against the French side clearly having had an impact.

Tactical Shifts

Marc Skinner had attempted to make changes with a handful of alterations. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Leah Galton all brought freshness, although the dropping of the on-form Malard to the bench caused surprise.

Manchester City, in opposition, have fewer loading worries. The City coach made one adjustment from the previous win over Everton with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since recovering from a physical setback.

Dominant First Half

The pressure started to build for Skinner and his squad from the opening minute. This was a exhibition of the power from City whose potent offense played with and dismantled the opposition with a excellent first half showing that saw them score three goals in 21 minutes.

This put the hosts completely dominant and left United all at sea. Prior to this encounter, the away side had allowed just few in this domestic competition but they disintegrated in the presence of Manchester City's offensive ingenuity.

Early Chances

The warning signs came soon when Miedema used her physicality to muscle Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot wide. Hemp was at the center of everything in the beginning, using the room left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' right flank. Her passes were creating danger and led to an chance for Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had several sorties forward, their direct style giving them choices in the flanks but they could not test Ayaka Yamashita. City, on the other hand, commanded possession, probing their opposition and trying to lure them of their organization.

Triple Strike

They made their pressure count with almost the first period played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A delivery to the back post was nodded across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to head in. It was Manchester City's seventh goal from a cross of the campaign.

They added to their advantage with another pair of goals just before the half-time. When Rose was allowed to drive through the middle from the back, the play became spacious for the hosts. The influential Kerstin Casparij picked the ball up on the right side before sending a accurate low cross for Bunny Shaw to force home. Four minutes later, they had a additional score after a swift change in possession saw Hemp given the opportunity to fire a effort home from range.

Final Period

The primary change came from Skinner at the half-time as Malard entered for Terland but by this time it was futile to alter the outcome of the contest. Former City player Jess Park came most likely to score, striking the woodwork, but the visitors were offensively poor and did not manage to produce a solitary shot on target.

The home side, meanwhile, could have increased their cushion when a superb Miedema through ball sent Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it mattered little to the winning team. After failing to overcome any team who ended above them the previous campaign, the manager's side now have victories against Arsenal and Manchester United to put them in a strong standing after the opening fixtures.