On a celebratory afternoon at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City earned a comfortable victory against their closest neighbours, Manchester United.
Their 3-1 win – thanks to a brace from Jess Park and a record-breaking goal from Khadija Shaw – saw Gareth Taylor’s side open up a three-point lead at the top of the table, taking full advantage of the early weekend kick-off in the Barclays WSL.
In the opening game of Women’s Football Weekend – an annual celebration of the women’s game across England – Manchester City thrilled the 40,086 fans inside the Etihad. It was their 11th consecutive league win as they kept the pressure on Chelsea in the race for the title.
City’s success is epitomised by the unparalleled Shaw who wrote her name into the history books once again. The Jamaica forward’s second-half strike was her 17th goal of the season and 68th in 82 appearances in a City shirt, making her the all-time leading goalscorer for the club.
Taylor had named an unchanged lineup from the win over Brightonbut the ever-present Laia Aleixandri pulled up in the warm-up meaning Alanna Kennedy came in. Marc Skinner made one change from his side that had beaten Bristol City as Geyse replaced Melvine Malard in attack.
It was the hosts who looked uncomfortable at the start as they adjusted to their reshuffled backline. United started with an energetic press, led from the front by Nikita Parris, and it forced some turnovers of possession in dangerous areas.
The visitors produced the first real opportunity of the game when the pace of Geyse got the better of Leila Ouahabi down the right. The Brazilian laid it back for an unmarked Parris who saw her shot tipped behind by Khiara Keating. Geyse was at the heart of everything United did going forward and produced another opportunity that saw her flash an effort into the side-netting.
City grew in confidence as the half drew on. Park was at the centre of everything positive they did and the warning signs were there when she took aim from distance with a sweetly struck effort only for Mary Earps to scramble across to save.
The hosts found the breakthrough in controversial circumstances. It was a lovely team move finished off by Park inside the box, but replays showed that Shaw was offside in the build-up.
City were in control now and Shaw looked to have doubled the lead a minute later, only for an offside flag to go up correctly this time.
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The hosts did grab a second goal just before the break. If Park’s first was questionable, there was no doubt about her second as she ghosted in at the far post to turn home Kennedy’s flick-on from close range.
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City continued to dominated in the second half and Shaw had her moment two minutes after the restart, driving through the United defence to pick her spot past Earps.
The one blemish on City’s afternoon was Kerstin Casparij’s 73rd-minute own goal from a Hannah Blundell cross but it did little to dampen the mood at the Etihad.
