Manchester City Three-Nil The Red Devils: Lauren Hemp scores in City dominant win.
Just as bad weather hit the northern region the night before, City swept the visitors away at the Etihad. It was a emphatic three-nil victory for Andrée Jeglertz’s side due to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that clearly signaled their championship potential as they strengthened their place at the WSL pinnacle.
Successive Defeats for United
This outcome signalled consecutive WSL losses for Marc Skinner’s side for the maiden instance since last May, leaving them seven points off the league leaders with their trophy ambitions in serious doubt.
The Red Devils' capability to balance league and continental football with a limited roster has been a hotly discussed subject since they secured entry to the UCL. Looking at the fixture list, it always appeared this was the week that would fully examine this capability. Unfortunately for the visitors, they looked fatigued all game, the memorable win against the French side clearly having left its mark.
Lineup Adjustments
The United manager had attempted to freshen things up with a a few adjustments. Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all provided vigor, although the exclusion of the on-form Malard to the sidelines raised a few eyebrows.
Manchester City, in opposition, have no similar workload worries. The City coach made a single alteration from the previous win over the Toffees with Lauren Hemp making her return to the lineup since healing from a physical setback.
Dominant First Half
The pressure started to build for Skinner and his squad from the kickoff. This was a show of the quality from Manchester City whose dynamic forward line played with and tore United open with a superb opening period performance that saw them net a trio in 21 minutes.
This placed City in a commanding position and had Manchester United all at sea. Prior to this encounter, the away side had let in just six in this domestic competition but they disintegrated in the presence of Manchester City's attacking flair.
Opening Threats
The early indicators came quickly when Vivianne Miedema used her strength to bundle Zigiotti off the ball, only to pull her shot wide. Lauren Hemp was at the heart of everything early on, taking advantage of the room left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' right flank. Her passes were posing a threat and led to an opportunity for Hasegawa that Sandberg kicked off the line.
United had a number of sorties forward, their long-ball tactic giving them options in the wide areas but they could not trouble Yamashita. Manchester City, meanwhile, dominated possession, taunting their opposition and trying to lure them of their defensive shape.
Triple Strike
They converted their dominance with almost the first period played when Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A cross to the back post was directed across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to nod home. It was Manchester City's 7th goal from a cross of the campaign.
They extended their advantage with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Jade Rose was permitted to drive through the midfield from defense, the pitch opened up for City. The key Casparij collected the pass on the right before providing a precise low cross for Bunny Shaw to force home. A short time later, they had a third after a swift shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp given the space to fire a shot home from distance.
After the Break
The most obvious adjustment came from Skinner at the break as Melvine Malard came on for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to shift the momentum of the match. Ex- City player Jess Park came most likely to score, rattling the woodwork, but the visitors were creatively abject and did not manage to register a single shot on goal.
The hosts, in contrast, could have increased their advantage when a excellent Miedema pass sent Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it mattered little to the winning team. Previously unable to beat any opponent who finished above them the previous campaign, the manager's side now have wins against Arsenal and United to position them in a commanding situation after nine matches.