A heavily-changed Manchester City side made light work of Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon at the City Football Academy, winning 7-0.

One of the changes was in the dugout, with Alan Mahon filling in for Gareth Taylor, who is currently self-isolating.

With Ellie Roebuck, Keira Walsh, Caroline Weir and Demi Stokes in the list of absentees, veteran goalkeeper Karen Bardlsley started the match. Janine Beckie was also utilised as a right-back, as she often was last season, while Laura Coombs and Esme Morgan came into the starting eleven.

The game

To say that the first half was one-sided, or the game as a whole, would be an understatement.

Aston Villa were reduced to only having three half-chances while Manchester City recorded a staggering sixteen shots as well as having 62% possession.

Lauren Hemp opened the scoring in the second minute with the quickest goal in the WSL this season. A clever turn and pass from Jill Scott threaded through Chloe Kelly on the right who crossed the ball along the box and towards the feet of Hemp.

Scott then got on the scoresheet herself for the game's second goal, latching onto a left-footed Lucy Bronze cross to head past Lisa Weiß.

City had concentrated much of their pressure on the left-hand side of the pitch, with Bronze, Hemp and Esme Morgan all combining to put pressure on youngster Asmita Ale.

It continued to pile on and the cracks began to be made deeper. Another assist from Bronze, this time a pass on the ground, was met by Georgia Stanway in the box who calmly made it three.

Hemp struck again - a header from a Chloe Kelly corner - before another one of her passes was turned into the Aston Villa goal by centre-back Natalie Haigh. Then, a sixth came before the break as Ellen White converted after an assist from Hemp.

It was a half that was different to many others played by City this season. The focus was still on fluid passing football, but this time a more positive outlook (as well as a weaker opposition) allowed for more chances to be created inside of the box.

Changes were made at half-time. Jess Park replaced Lucy Bronze for the hosts while Elisha N'Dowe and Mana Iwabuchi came on for Chloe Arthur and Nadine Hanssen for Villa.

Manchester City's dominance continued, although they were not able to keep up their goalscoring tempo which they displayed in the opening 45 minutes.

Villa dropping to a back-five had aided their defence, leaving fewer pockets of space to be exploited in comparison to the way in which they set up in the first half.

Gemma Davies' side looked to the bench to change yet again. Hayles made way for Sophie Haywood, while Olivia McLoughlin made her debut when she replaced Asmita Ale.

City, likewise, with their young bench, also handed out debuts. Millie Davies replaced Lauren Hemp, one player who has developed greatly making way for one who will be looking to follow in her footsteps.

Chloe Kelly eventually made it seven for the hosts. Capitalising on a passback inside of the box, she took the ball from Lisa Weiß' feet and easily tapped the ball into the net after rounding the goalkeeper.

Another debut was handed out as Alicia Window replaced Ellen White.