City underline WSL title credentials against rivals United | OneFootball

Manchester City underlined their Women's Super League title credentials with a 3-0 win over their crosstown rivals.

Andrée Jeglertz's side looked far fresher than their opponents after their week off while Manchester United were defeating Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Indeed, the Citizens started quickly and would have taken the lead even earlier had Anna Sandberg not provided a crucial block to deny Yui Hasegawa.

The opening corner came from a set-piece when Lauren Hemp's corner from the right eventually finding Rebecca Knaak who headed past Safia Middleton-Patel.

United responded well to going behind but that momentum was promptly halted by Khadija Shaw who headed in from captain Kerstin Casparij.

Casparij was involved for City's third which effectively killed the game off at half-time when she found Hemp who had time to find the top corner well beyond the reach of Middleton-Patel.

Marc Skinner made once again at half-time with Melvine Malard coming on for Elisabeth Terland but United didn't look likely to get back into the game.

The closest they came was in the 72nd minute when Jess Park, not enjoying facing her former side, fired an effort after combining with Malard but could only hit the woodwork.

Indeed, Ayaka Yamashita was relatively untroubled in the City goal with United failing to have a single shot on target.

That win extends City's lead at the top of the WSL ahead of Chelsea's game against Liverpool tomorrow. Meanwhile, United suffered their second league defeat in a row as they learned the difficulty of juggling European football and staying competitive in the WSL.