Manchester City celebrate scoring against Aston VillaImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

Manchester City are the only Women's Super League side to have won their first two matches

ByAdam Millington
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester City continued the perfect start to their Women's Super League title defence with an emphatic victory at Aston Villa.

They were up against a Villa side who produced an impressive 1-1 draw with Chelsea last weekend but were gifted an early opener when goalkeeper Akane Okuma punched a clearance in the air.

The ball fell to the feet of City defender Jade Rose, who drilled home from six yards to open the scoring and begin a period of dominance for Andree Jeglertz's side.

Mary Fowler soon added City's second, arrowing in from the edge of the area after playing a neat one-two with Khadija Shaw.

Aston Villa's Amalie Vangsgaard pulled a goal back just before half-time, stretching to prod a low Chasity Grant delivery past Ayaka Yamashita.

But the visitors had been by far the most threatening side up to that point, with their danger on the break particularly apparent, and returned to being in control after the restart.

Shaw was unlucky not to score when she sent a header against the bar, Lauren Hemp had an effort saved from close range, and, as so often seems to be inevitable, Shaw got a goal of her own when she sent a deft dink over Okuma.

City then rounded off an outstanding display when a Hemp effort deflected off Mathilde Harviken and went past Okuma in stoppage time.

It is still very early days, but slip-ups by other title challengers mean City now have a two-point advantage at the top of the WSL table, something they will look to build on as the season progresses.

Analysis: Dominant City cruise to victory

Last week, Manchester City profited from Chelsea dropping points against Villa. Today, it was Arsenal's draw with promoted Crystal Palace that they wanted to better.

This was not the most stylish of victories, but it was the sort which typified their success last year - dominant and relentless.

Hemp, in particular, was a bright spark, winning her duels to create breaks and dribbling past defenders. Her goal and assist means she has now registered 101 goal involvements in the WSL.

Shaw, one of five City players nominated for the Ballon d'Or, was also crucial to their attacking line in the way she held the ball and picked out the correct moments to release Hemp and Fowler.

Aston Villa are far from full strength - they named only six substitutes, owing to a mix of injuries, Rachel Maltby being at the Under-20 World Cup, Lily Murphy being unavailable against her parent club and Rachel Daly being unavailable for the foreseeable future after announcing her pregnancy - but they still produced some encouraging moments.

Grant's expert movement in the final third was constantly troubling for City, while new striker Vangsgaard took her first goal for her new club well.

Player of the match

Number: 11 L. Hemp
Average rating 9.41
Number: 21 L. Kendall
Average Rating: 6.60
Number: 17 C. Grant
Average Rating: 6.44
Number: 20 A. Vangsgaard
Average Rating: 6.42
Number: 4 A. Patten
Average Rating: 6.28
Number: 23 A. Okuma
Average Rating: 5.90
Number: 27 M. McAulay
Average Rating: 5.72
Number: 16 N. Maritz
Average Rating: 5.67
Number: 14 L. Wilms
Average Rating: 5.67
Number: 15 L. Parker
Average Rating: 5.50
Number: 3 M. Harviken
Average Rating: 5.42
Number: 5 J. Kielland
Average Rating: 5.39
Number: 13 M. Hijikata
Average Rating: 5.13
Number: 25 M. Taylor
Average Rating: 5.13
Number: 33 K. Scott
Average Rating: 5.06
Number: 24 O. Deslandes
Average Rating: 5.06
Number: 18 G. Mullett
Average Rating: 4.94

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.