Khadija Shaw hat-trick shows why she is key to Man City title push

Manchester City 4 Tottenham 0

As Khadija Shaw danced off towards the corner flag in celebration of her hat-trick it was evident just how central she is to Manchester City’s title aspirations.

Gareth Taylor’s side have dropped points only once this season, but that could ensure the Women’s Super League will again go to the wire with Chelsea having enjoyed a flawless start to the campaign and with a goal difference five better than City’s, having played two games fewer.

City’s match against Spurs, their first at the Etihad this season, was a clash of two contrasting styles with little doubt as to which side was going to come out on top.

With their first attack of the match and inside the first 30 seconds, City had the ball in the back of the net, courtesy of Shaw, who slotted the ball under Becky Spencer. It was the first of many defensive errors that epitomised Tottenham’s performance, particularly in the first half as they struggled to contain the strength and power of the home side’s prolific forward.

Although City could have had their second before they it eventually came, the goal had a touch of inevitability about it, Lauren’s Hemp’s cross from the left hand side nodded into the back of the net over the goalkeeper by an unmarked Shaw, who could only smile.

Jill Roord scored a third just before the hour mark, Hemp weaved into the box before finding her team-mate with the outside of the foot and the City No 10 drove the ball into the goal. Shaw wrapped up her hat-trick less than a minute later, again beating her marker to tap home at the far post, it was her third triple against Spurs in five WSL starts.

Shaw’s interaction with Hemp has been electric for Manchester City this season and it is one that has been fostered both on and off the pitch.

“I have a really good relationship with her and I think sometimes having that good relationship off the field can sometimes, most times, transfer on the pitch and it’s definitely working and I really enjoy playing with her,” Shaw said.

It is a sentiment echoed by her counterpart. “Whenever I kick the ball in the box I know she’s going to be there,” Hemp said. “Sometimes I don’t even need to look up and know she’s going to be there which is great for us. She started us on a good foot, scoring as soon as the game started, which is great.

“Obviously we haven’t had many good starts to games so it’s important that we got that tonight and I mean we went on and made a statement and got four goals which is good for us and I think it could have been more, at times we had quite a few opportunities.”

When Shaw sustained a broken foot last season in April and was ruled out for the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, it was a major blow to City’s hopes of winning a first title since 2016.

At that moment, they were the league leaders, with a chance to go six points clear, but instead it was Emma Hayes’ team who lifted the trophy, by the narrowest margin of goal difference.

Under Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea have been no different. They have scored five against Everton and seven against Crystal Palace this season, but with Shaw unleashing a hat-trick, City have not been in a better position to challenge their rivals on all fronts.

Match details

Manchester City Women (4-1-4-1): Keating, Casparij, Kennedy, Greenwood, Ouahabi, Hasegawa, Fujino (Fowler 70), Roord (Blindkilde Brown 70), Park (Coombs 79), Hemp (Kelly 78), Shaw (Murphy 78).
Goals: Shaw 21, 1, 15, 67: Rood 10, 66.
Subs not used: O’Carroll, Prior, Thomas, Yamashita.
Tottenham Hotspur Women (4-4-2): Spencer, Morris, Buhler, Hunt (James-Turner 46), Neville, England (Thomas 56), Summanen, Bartrip, Vinberg (Raso 56), Naz (Grant 82), Spence (Ahtinen 70).
Booked: James-Turner.