Man City Three-Nil Manchester United: Lauren Hemp scores in City stroll.
Similar to the recent storm tore through the north-west the night before, Manchester City swept Manchester United away at the Etihad. It was a emphatic three-nil win for Andrée Jeglertz’s side owing to goals from Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a performance that firmly established their title credentials as they consolidated their position at the top of the table.
Successive Setbacks for United
This result represented consecutive WSL losses for Skinner's side for the maiden instance since last May, placing them a sizable gap off the top team with their championship aspirations severely dented.
The Red Devils' capacity to balance league and European soccer with a thin roster has been a widely debated subject since they qualified for the European competition. Considering the fixture list, it always appeared this was the period that would seriously challenge this ability. Sadly for the away side, they looked fatigued from start to finish, the historic win against PSG clearly having taken a toll.
Tactical Shifts
Marc Skinner had tried to make changes with a handful of alterations. Toone, Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all provided vigor, although the omission of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the substitutes caused surprise.
The hosts, in opposition, have no similar loading worries. The City coach made one change from last week’s win over the Toffees with Lauren Hemp making her initial starting appearance since healing from a fitness issue.
Commanding Opening Period
The storm clouds started to accumulate for Skinner and his team from the first whistle. This was a show of the power from City whose dynamic forward line played with and pulled the visitors apart with a superb opening period performance that saw them put three past the keeper in 21 minutes.
This put the hosts firmly in control and had Manchester United struggling. In advance of this encounter, United had conceded just few in this domestic competition but they disintegrated in the presence of City’s offensive ingenuity.
Initial Opportunities
The warning signs came quickly when Miedema used her strength to muscle Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot past the post. Lauren Hemp was at the center of everything from the start, exploiting the gap left by Jayde Riviere down the visitors' right side. Her passes were posing a threat and led to an attempt for Hasegawa that Sandberg cleared off the line.
The Red Devils had multiple attacks forwards, their direct style giving them alternatives in the wings but they could not test the City goalkeeper. Manchester City, in the meantime, dominated the ball, teasing their opposition and trying to pull them out of their defensive shape.
Goals Galore
They turned chances into goals with almost thirty minutes played when Aoba Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A cross to the far post was directed across goal by Shaw for Knaak to nod home. It was City’s 7th goal from a cross of the season.
They extended their cushion with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Rose was permitted to maraud through the midfield from central defence, the pitch became spacious for the hosts. The key Casparij collected the pass on the right before providing a pinpoint driven ball for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. Shortly later, they had a third goal after a quick shift in the ball saw Lauren Hemp allowed the room to strike a effort home from range.
After the Break
The clearest substitution came from the United manager at the interval as Melvine Malard entered for Elisabeth Terland but by this time it was ineffective to alter the outcome of the game. Ex- Manchester City player Jess Park came nearest, striking the upright, but the away team were offensively poor and were unable to record a solitary shot on goal.
The home side, in contrast, could have increased their advantage when a superb Vivianne Miedema long ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it mattered little to the winning team. Having failed to beat any team who finished above them in the prior term, Jeglertz’s side now have successes against the Gunners and Manchester United to position them in a favorable standing after the opening fixtures.
