6 hours ago
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There are raindrops depicted on Manchester City’s third kit, with a deliberate nod to the often unsettled weather. Seeing the strip, what catches the eye first, though, is the fluorescent, neon green socks. You cannot fail to notice them, and that is now also true of Manchester City in this season’s Women’s Super League title race; a team that quietly went under the radar initially, scarcely being spoken about as contenders, are now unmissable as they keep on winning, shining bright with a six-point lead at the top of the table.
Their latest victory, their ninth in a row in the league, not unlike the climate their kit honour, was not always particularly pretty. They spent well over an hour being frustrated by a Leicester side who were content to keep 11 players behind the ball with a deep, well-organised back five, but this is the sort of game, on a wet lunchtime in the East Midlands, when teams who go on to win titles manage to find a way through. Eventually, Manchester City did so, and then some, with two goals and an assist from Khadija Shaw delivering a 3-0 victory that more closely reflected their control of the contest than the 0-0 scoreline on the 73-minute mark had suggested. The visitors had 75.5% of the possession and 30 shots at goal compared to Leicester’s two.
It is the first time the club have won nine of their opening 10 games of a season, and will build belief among their fanbase that in 2026 – a full decade on from their sole title triumph – they may finally be able to wrestle back the WSL trophy. Watching them on Sunday, some of the key reasons why they are enjoying such good form were clear. They have whipped more crosses into the box from open play – 130 times in their previous nine WSL games this term – than any other side, and this tactic continued against Leicester, so much so that Shaw could have scored at last a hat-trick of first-half goals, from crosses delivered by their dangerous wingers Lauren Hemp, Aoba Fujino, and a hanging ball from the left-back Leila Ouahabi that the striker headed over. Balls into the box – simple, but very effective.
They have also scored the highest number of goals from corners in the WSL and they got another here, as Shaw nodded in at the back post moments after Kerolin was bizarrely denied a penalty. By then, Shaw had already clinically opened the scoring with a low finish after a swivel in the box. Kerolin, whose 69th-minute arrival as a substitute injected pace and direct running into the game, was electric and she raced on to a Shaw pass and slotted into the corner to complete the 3-0 win.
“I pride myself with what I do in front of goal,” said Shaw, the WSL’s leading scorer with eight goals. “The quality I have around me does shine through – even if I miss a chance, I know another one is coming after that.”
Her manager was singing Shaw’s praises, with Andrée Jeglertz adding: “She could probably have scored a couple more goals, but she never loses the trust. She is still working hard, she’s doing the runs into the box and she’s doing everything for the team anyway, so I’m so happy for her, she also deserves it. She’s never dropping in performance, which can easily happen for a goalscorer.”
It is certainly not just about Shaw. The marauding runs of Ouahabi and Kerstin Casparij from the full-back positions, and the stylish, technical prowess of Yui Hasegawa in the middle is helping them thrive, along with the ever-improving Laura Blindkilde Brown in holding midfield. Then they have the strength on the bench to bring on an England player such as Grace Clinton, who helped up the tempo in the final 25 minutes. For a team that finished 17 points behind Chelsea last term, they appear reborn. In fact, there were seven different players in the starting side compared with the team that won on this ground in April last season.
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The Leicester manager, Rick Passmoor, who was proud of how his team adhered to their gameplan for the first 70 minutes, said of the league leaders: “That cutting edge that they’ve got really came to the fore in the last 15 minutes and they were ruthless. I think they’ll only get better.”
That may well be true. Tricky obstacles lie in wait in the second half of the season – not least March’s Asian Cup, when Hasegawa, Fujino and the goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita will all be absent with Japan – but, with no European football to juggle, this could well be City’s year, domestically.
