After a ruthless first half display Manchester City smash-grabbed both points and bragging rights against rivals Manchester United on derby day at the Etihad.
A front-line masterclass from Lauren Hemp, Khadija Bunny Shaw, and Vivianne Miedema put City four points clear at the top, ahead of chasers Chelsea who play Liverpool tomorrow afternoon.
City’s freshness in legs compared to their opponents was on display immediately and their extra week to prepare forced Manchester United to dig deep very early on.
Hemp kickstarted the game, getting herself in a dangerous position with her first touch on the ball since returning from an ankle injury. A Fujino cross had the United backline straight on alert as she found Hemp in the box, but the defenders eventually cleared their lines.
Hemp continued to look dangerous, terrorising Manchester United down the left flank, and found Miedema three minutes later but the forward dragged her shot wide at the near post.
A brief spell of possession for United saw them catch a glimpse of dominance but it was Manchester City who opened the scoring and never looked back. On 25 minutes, Rebecca Knaak headed past Safia Middleton-Patel, capitalising off Shaw’s nodded ball into the box after a corner kick.
City tightened their grip on the game minutes before the break, and an inspired Shaw doubled her side’s lead, cleanly hitting a Kerstin Casparij cross past Middleton-Patel. It was a tough pill to swallow for Manchester United who were left on the back foot as Hinata Miyazawa straggled behind the chasing pack after losing her boot in the build up.
Things quickly worsened for Manchester United when Hemp marked what was an already memorable afternoon with an equally spectacular strike that rippled into the top netting.
With three goals from three shots on target, to say Manchester City had been clinical would be an understatement. And while the hosts were in complete cruise control, it was definitely a derby day to forget for Manchester United.
City goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita had a quiet afternoon, and didn’t have to make a single save until Hannah Blundell’s curled effort with twenty minutes to go.
Shaw never lost energy, hunting down a fourth several times throughout the second half while Manchester United made several changes in an attempt to claw back the result.
Skinner brought on his midweek European heroes Melvine Malard, and Fridolina Rolfo alongside Hannah Blundell and Rachel Williams but their efforts weren’t enough to dampen City’s derby day party.
“It’s fantastic to be top of the league,” said City boss Andree Jeglertz after the game. “There is no doubt about that.”
He added: “It will give the team confidence that we are doing a lot of good things but at the same time it’s a long league so, if we can’t keep it until May, it doesn’t mean anything.”
Starting XIs:
Manchester City: Yamashita (GK), Rose, Knaak, Ouahabi, Casparij (C), Blindkilde Brown, Hasegawa, Hemp, Fujino, Miedema, Shaw
Manchester United: Middleton-Patel (GK), Sandberg, Le Tissier (C), Toone, Park, Terland, Galton, Riviere, Janssen, Zigiotti, Miyazawa
Featured image courtesy of Manchester City FC.