Manchester City Three Goals to Nil The Red Devils: Hemp finds the net in Manchester City dominant win.
Similar to bad weather tore through the north-west the previous evening, the home side overwhelmed the visitors away at the their home ground. It was a emphatic 3-0 triumph for their manager's side owing to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Lauren Hemp. It was a result that truly announced their championship potential as they consolidated their place at the WSL pinnacle.
Consecutive Defeats for Manchester United
This result represented back-to-back WSL defeats for Skinner's side for the first time since last May, placing them seven points off the league leaders with their championship aspirations severely dented.
United’s capability to manage league and continental soccer with a thin squad has been a frequently analyzed topic since they qualified for the Champions League. Looking at the schedule, it always seemed this was the week that would truly test this capability. Sadly for the away side, they appeared tired all game, the memorable win against PSG clearly having taken a toll.
Team Changes
Marc Skinner had attempted to make changes with a a few alterations. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Janssen and Galton all provided vigor, although the dropping of the high-performing Melvine Malard to the bench was questioned.
City, in comparison, have no similar fitness issues. Andrée Jeglertz made one change from last week’s win over Everton with Lauren Hemp making her return to the lineup since returning from injury.
Dominant First Half
The trouble started to build for the United boss and his squad from the opening minute. This was a show of the strength from Manchester City whose potent offense played with and dismantled the opposition with a sublime initial 45 minutes showing that saw them put three past the keeper in 21 minutes.
This placed City in a commanding position and had Manchester United all at sea. Before this fixture, the away side had allowed just six in this domestic competition but they collapsed in the presence of the hosts' attacking flair.
Initial Opportunities
The omens came early when Vivianne Miedema used her physicality to push Zigiotti off the ball, only to drag her shot off target. Lauren Hemp was at the heart of everything early on, taking advantage of the room left by Riviere down United’s right side. Her passes were posing a threat and led to an chance for Hasegawa that Sandberg cleared off the line.
The Red Devils had multiple sorties ahead, their long-ball tactic giving them choices in the wide areas but they could not challenge the City goalkeeper. City, in the meantime, commanded possession, teasing their rivals and trying to pull them out of their organization.
Scoring Spree
They made their pressure count with almost thirty minutes played when Fujino won the home team a set-piece. A ball to the far post was nodded across goal by Bunny Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to nod home. It was Manchester City's 7th goal from a cross of the term.
They increased their advantage with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Rose was allowed to advance through the middle from central defence, the field became spacious for the hosts. The prominent Kerstin Casparij picked the ball up on the right before delivering a precise ground pass for Bunny Shaw to bundle home. A short time later, they had a additional score after a rapid shift in possession saw Lauren Hemp afforded the space to drive a effort home from range.
Final Period
The primary change came from the United manager at the interval as Malard entered for Terland but by this time it was futile to change the course of the match. Ex- City player Jess Park came closest, rattling the woodwork, but the visitors were offensively poor and were unable to produce a solitary shot on goal.
The home side, on the other hand, could have added to their advantage when a delightful Vivianne Miedema long ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to fail to convert but it mattered little to the winning team. Having failed to beat any team who placed above them in the prior term, Jeglertz’s side now have wins against Arsenal and United to place them in a favorable situation after nine games.
