Manchester City Women 4, Tottenham Women 0
Khadija Shaw scored a hat trick as Manchester City easily beat Tottenham to maintain an unbeaten start to their WSL campaign.
Jill Roord also scored as Manchester City eased past Spurs at the Etihad Stadium to remain top of the WSL after their sixth league win in a row, 4 points ahead of Chelsea who have 2 games in hand.
Embed from Getty ImagesKhadija Shaw capped a devastating 15 minute spell at the start of the game with a brace – firstly robbing Claire Hunt who dawdled on the ball – to score after 23 seconds.
Shaw also got on the end of an inviting looping header from Lauren Hemp to nod the ball beyond the fingertips of of luckless Becky Spencer after 15 minutes.
Jill Roord’s 20th minute strike was ruled out long before it went in after Aoba Fujino was ahead of play getting the ball back from Hemp who put her cut back back into the box.
City remained in total control in the first half, dominating possession, probing for weaknesses in the visitors while completely preventing them from even a shot on goal.
Matilda Vinberg had Spurs’ first shot on goal in the 39th minute – an effort that sailed over the bar after Kerstin Casparij gave the ball away.
Fujino could have headed City’s third from 6 yards out but she misdirected Hemp’s cutback from the byline just before half time.
Amy James-Turner replaced Hunt at half time, the Spurs defender had been beaten by Shaw for both her goals and also hauled the City striker down for a free kick late in the first half.
But City might have extended their lead after 51 minutes when Hemp’s shot was acrobatically tipped away by Spencer.
Bethany England tried to get on the end of a left wing cross by but blazed the effort over from an acute angle.
Ex-City winger Hayley Raso and Ex-United striker Martha Thomas replaced England and Vinberg after 56 minutes as more Spurs changes were made.
But Hemp ended up rattling both posts ad the crossbar with the same shot after she was found in space on the left by Roord after some great work by Jess Park.
City’s goal had been coming and it finally arrived with a confident strike by Roord laid on by Hemp, good footwork allowed both to evade Spurs tackles and the strike from 12 yards out flew in at the near post.
And a minute later it was really game over as Shaw completed her hat trick tapping in from 3 yards out after Hemp put in another left wing cross following a turn-over of possession by Yui Hasegawa.
There were several changes in personnel for both sides, and two of the subs almost combined for a fifth City goal with Mary Fowler’s tame turn and shot saved by Spencer after good work by Lily Murphy down the left.
And Murphy almost had a goal of her own with a curling shot after cutting inside rippling the side netting.
PLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City Women 4, Tottenham Women 0
Khiara Keating: 7. Involved in City’s build-up. Great take from a corner by Spurs at the end of the first half, not especially troubled by the visitors otherwise.
Kerstin Casparij: 7. Able to join in the attack as very little came down her side from Spurs but occasionally sloppy in possession.
Alanna Kennedy: 7. Solid defending when called upon.
Alex Greenwood: 8. Little to deal with from the Spurs attack but dealt with it well.
Leila Ouahabi: 8. Good control of the ball in defence despite being up against Bethany England.
Yui Hasegawa: 9. Won the ball back well, had a long range shot tipped away.
Jess Park: 8. Good in tight spaces and burst forward well with the ball.
Jill Roord: 8. Good link up play, dropped deeper when needed, and scored a fine goal which was quickly ruled out for offside in the build up. Scored a fully deserved goal in the second half.
Aoba Fujino: 7. Stayed wide on the right and stretched the Spurs defence, help set up a great goal but was offside in the build-up. Headed an effort wide from 6 yards after a great cutback by Hemp.
Lauren Hemp: 9. Total menace on the ball and worked hard off it too, always seemed to be in space. Forced a flying save from Becky Spencer in the second half and hit both posts and the crossbar with the same shot before laying on City’s third and fourth goals.
Khadija Shaw: 10. Bullied Claire Hunt off the ball and opened the scoring after just 23 seconds. Fouled by Hunt as she bore down on goal again, got her hat trick after 67 minutes meeting a Lauren Hemp cross.
Laura Blinkilde Brown (on for Jill Roord, 70): 6. Fitted into midfield.
Mary Fowler (on for Aoba Fujino, 70): 6. Tame shot easily saved by Becky Spencer.
Chloe Kelly (on for Lauren Hemp, 79): No time to mark
Lily Murphy (on for Khadija Shaw, 79): No time to mark
Laura Coombs (on for Jess Park, 79): No time to mark
GOALS – Manchester City Women 4, Tottenham Women 0
Man City Women 1, Tottenham 0: 1. Bunny Shaw ran clear and slotted beyond Becky Spencer inside the back post after just 23 seconds after winning the ball off Claire Hunt who tried to shield it from the Jamaican.
Man City Women 2, Tottenham 0: 15. Khadija Shaw’s header from Lauren Hemp’s lofted cross beat Becky Spencer and looped inside the back post after the Spurs goalkeeper could only get fingertips to it.
Man City Women 3, Tottenham 0: 66. Jill Roord scored from 12 yards out with a left footed strike after Lauren Hemp had slipped her through – both players skipped past a clutch of Spurs defenders who tried in vain to stop them.
Man City Women 4, Tottenham 0: 67. Khadija Shaw was there at the back post to meet a Lauren Hemp cross from the left which went past 2 defenders on the way to the City striker who could not miss from 3 yards out following Yui Hasegawa’s turn-over.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City Women 4, Tottenham Women 0
Man City Women: Keating, Casparij, Kennedy, Greenwood (C), Ouahabi, Hasegawa, Park (Coombs 79), Roord (Blinkilde Brown 70), Fujino (Fowler 70), Hemp (Kelly 79), Shaw (Murphy 79)
Man City Women Subs not used: Yamashita, Prior, Thomas, O’Carroll
Goals: Shaw 1, 15, 67; Roord 66
Tottenham Women: Spencer, Morris, Buhler, Hunt (James-Turner 46), Neville, England (C) (Thomas 56), Summanen, Bartrip, Vinberg (Raso 56), Naz (Grant 82), Spence
Tottenham Women Subs not used: Heeps, Csiki, Ahtinen, Gunning-Williams, Wang
Booking: James-Turner 77 (foul on Yui Hasegawa)
Referee: Stacey Pearson