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Much like bad weather hit the north-west the night before, the home side overwhelmed the visitors away at the their home ground. It was a emphatic three goal victory for their manager's side due to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a display that truly announced their leadership claims as they reinforced their place at the top of the table.

Consecutive Defeats for Manchester United

This scoreline signalled successive league setbacks for the United manager's side for the initial occasion since last May, putting them seven points off the league leaders with their trophy ambitions in serious doubt.

The Red Devils' capability to manage domestic and continental soccer with a thin roster has been a hotly discussed subject since they qualified for the European competition. Looking at the fixture list, it always seemed this was the matchday that would truly test this capability. Unfortunately for the visitors, they seemed fatigued throughout, the landmark win against Paris Saint-Germain clearly having taken a toll.

Team Changes

Marc Skinner had sought to freshen things up with a several alterations. Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all brought energy, although the dropping of the high-performing Malard to the sidelines caused surprise.

City, in comparison, have no similar loading worries. Andrée Jeglertz made one adjustment from the previous win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her first start since recovering from a fitness issue.

Commanding Opening Period

The pressure started to build for the United boss and his team from the opening minute. This was a demonstration of the power from City whose potent forward line played with and tore United open with a superb initial 45 minutes display that saw them put three past the keeper in under half an hour.

This placed City completely dominant and had Manchester United struggling. In advance of this encounter, the away side had allowed just a handful in this domestic competition but they disintegrated in the presence of Manchester City's creative prowess.

Initial Opportunities

The warning signs came soon when Miedema used her strength to bundle Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot past the post. Lauren Hemp was at the core of everything early on, using the space left by Riviere down United’s right side. Her crosses were posing a threat and led to an opportunity for Hasegawa that Sandberg scrambled off the line.

United had several sorties forwards, their long-ball tactic giving them choices in the flanks but they could not test the City goalkeeper. Manchester City, on the other hand, controlled the ball, taunting their opponents and trying to pull them out of their defensive shape.

Scoring Spree

They converted their dominance with almost the first period played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A cross to the far post was directed across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was Manchester City's seventh goal from a cross of the term.

They increased their cushion with an additional two goals just before the half-time. When Rose was able to advance through the midfield from the back, the pitch became spacious for the hosts. The prominent Kerstin Casparij received possession on the right side before providing a pinpoint driven ball for Bunny Shaw to force home. A short time later, they had a third goal after a rapid shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp allowed the space to strike a attempt home from outside the box.

Final Period

The clearest change came from the United manager at the half-time as Malard entered for Terland but by this time it was too late to shift the momentum of the contest. Ex- City player Park came closest, rattling the post, but the away team were creatively abject and failed to produce a solitary shot on target.

The hosts, on the other hand, could have added to their cushion when a excellent Miedema pass sent Shaw away only for her to fluff her lines but it was insignificant to the winning team. After failing to beat any team who ended above them the previous campaign, City's side now have successes against the Gunners and Manchester United to place them in a commanding standing after the opening fixtures.