Lauren Hemp: How Manchester City’s dazzling winger can boost their WSL title hopes

With Khadija Shaw and Vivienne Miedema forming a strong partnership this season, City have performed well without Hemp.

But the return of their English star was a welcome boost for coach Andre Geiglertz, who knows he will need to rotate throughout the season to maintain their advantage.

From the first minute against United, Hemp was on the attack, leading full-back Jade Rivière and sending crosses into the box for Shaw to collect.

Eventually, her corner kick helped set up Rebecca Knack’s first goal, before Hemp added City’s third, after Shaw’s decisive touch made it 2-0.

“Lauren is a great player and I’m very happy for her to come and perform like this,” Geiglertz said. “We have a great team and a lot of good players.”

“Lauren gives us something different and that’s good for us. Every time she has the ball, she has a great left foot, which everyone knows of course, but it’s the ability to always tackle the full-back.

“She’s always thinking: Can I play forward? Can I play another cross? Should I challenge one-on-one?” She gives us all of that.

“In this game, it was more of a challenge for her to defend because Jade Rivière is a great full-back. She struggled for a few minutes to find the right position but then it was great for the rest of the game.”

Hemp’s display resulted in her being named player of the match, just days after her defensive opponent Rivière dominated United’s Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain.

Hemp was so dangerous for City that Rivière was not allowed to run forward as she often does, reducing her threat at the other end.

“[Hemp] “Her influence is huge anyway because she’s a great player but I think Jade Rivière has shown her a lot of respect,” United coach Mark Skinner said afterwards.

“I showed her on her left foot and in the cross position that we talked about trying to push her away.

“But Hemp is good enough to do it anyway. We defended at moments but on two occasions we let ourselves down.”