WALK IN THE PARK
Jess at the double as City regain top spot
THE gulf in class between Manchester’s two clubs has been evident on the men’s side for some time. On the women’s side, too, City have dominated. But last year Marc Skinner’s team finished second and qualified for the Champions League while City finished fourth, missing out for the first time since 2014. United are starting to feel like one-hit wonders. Two goals from Jess Park and one from Bunny Shaw made it three derby wins from three for Gareth Taylor’s side. Kerstin Casparij’s owngoal proved to be no more than a consolation.
United are back in City’s shadows, 15 points behind their rivals and if Arsenal beat Aston Villa this afternoon, Skinner’s side will be nine points off the Champions League places.
This has been a worrying season of decline for Skinner and it feels unlikely that he will still be there come the start of the next. ‘We know we’re going to be compared to the best season the club ever had because it was last season,’ he said.
‘We want to emulate that and we want to go beyond that, of course we do. This season hasn’t been that way but what I can promise is, the games that we have left we’re going to give everything. We don’t give up because of a position in the table.’
United had started brightly, with Nikita Parris forcing Khiara Keating into a fine save before Geyse sent a volley just wide but City got on top as the half progressed, with Park going close with a shot from range before Yui Hasegawa fired just wide.
City’s pressure told in the 37th minute, when a fine team move culminated in Leila Ouahabi crossing for Park, who sent a sidefooted volley past Mary Earps. Replays showed Shaw had been coming back from an offside position in the build-up but with no VAR, the goal stood and Skinner said that goal changed the momentum of the game.
That may have been the case, but it did not excuse United’s defending for City’s second. Hasegawa’s cross into the box was headed on by Alanna Kennedy and an unmarked Park hooked the ball in.
A minute into the second half, after United’s official X account had posted that it was ‘time for a big push’, City had a third. Park played a diagonal pass to Shaw, who held off Maya Le Tissier to finish. It was Shaw’s 68th goal for City, making her their all-time leading scorer.
United pulled one back in the 73rd minute, when Casparij deflected Hannah Blundell’s cross past Keating. That briefly gave the Reds some momentum but they failed to capitalise.
This win moves City back to the top of the table, although Chelsea will go level on points if they beat West Ham this afternoon. ‘The WSL title always seems to go to the final game and I don’t see it being anything different this season,’ said Taylor.