The first ever Women's Manchester derby at Old Trafford, watched by a crowd of 43,615, was won by the Blue side of the City, in the main after a stunning first half turnaround.
Katie Zelem had given the hosts the lead from the spot, before Geyse had the ball in the net, but was adjudged to have gone out of play which was the moment that sparked Man City into life.
Seconds later, Jill Roord had levelled, reversing the ball back across Mary Earps into the corner and just 18 seconds later, Lauren Hemp curled a beauty into the top corner off the crossbar to stun the majority inside Old Trafford. Bunny Shaw added a third for City on 55 minutes after a poor piece of play between Maya Le Tissier and Mary Earps.
City went down to ten players, thanks to two yellow cards from Laia Alexandri, but the visitors held firm with 10 players and secured a memorable derby day win.
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A Bunny Shaw masterclass:
During the game, Sky Sports put up a pretty interesting graphic surround City's talisman, Bunny Shaw. The graphic showed that the Jamaican had scored 28 goals versus teams that weren't Arsenal, Chelsea or Man United, but had only scored three against their 'title rivals'.
This came just after Shaw had put a one on one effort straight at Mary Earps when she really should've done better, but this may well have spurred her on to do what she did later in the game.
Firstly, she showed great awareness and composure to set up Lauren Hemp to put City infront, by feigning to shoot and rolling the ball into the path of the onrushing Hemp who curled the ball in off the bar to complete the stunning City turnaround.
She then showed her typical predatory instincts to put a two goal cushion between the Red and Blue side of Manchester, although some will argue that her goal was more down to a incident in the United defence.
Maya Le Tissier put a shot backpass to Earps, who's clearance was charged down by Shaw, with the ball cannoning in to the open net behind the United goalkeeper, with the City striker wheeling away in celebration.
Shaw was withdrawn on 75 minutes as Gareth Taylor looked to protect a two goal lead after Laia Alexandri's red card, but the Jamaican had certainly left her mark on the big stage.
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United freeze on the big stage:
A lot of the talk in the build up to this game was how United would approach the first ever Women's derby at Old Trafford. For the first half an hour, the game plan was executed to perfection and yet from then on, it fell away spectacularly.
When Katie Zelem cooly slotted past Khiara Keating from the spot 20 minutes in to open the scoring, it looked like The Red Devils had fully weathered the visitors storm, but they were far from right.
The stunning City turnaround shocked everyone inside the stadium, from the fans to the players and that seemed to suit The Cityzens perfectly.
Teenage goalkeeper Keating, fresh off signing a new deal during the week was in the way of virtually everything that United threw at her, even getting a hand to Zelem's penalty. Despite not being able to keep it out, she still turned in a thoroughly resolute performance, especially defensively, which United were unable to break through.
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Mary Earps - both sides of the coin:
If there ever was a game that showcased both sides of the Manchester United and Lionesses Number 1, this certainly was it.
She pulled out two stunning saves in the first half, one from Bunny Shaw who advanced through on goal only to be met by the strong hand of the United stopper, before stopping the visitors going further behind when Chloe Kelly arrowed a shot towards the bottom left corner, which Earps had to spring to her right and paw round the post.
In the first half, she kept United in the game, but in the second half, it all went wrong.
Her distribution was getting worse and worse by the kick and ten minutes into the second half, she was punished in extreme fashion.
After receiving a poor back pass back from Le Tissier, her option to smash the ball at the on-running Shaw, whether she saw her coming or not is a different story, but she had enough time to come and meet the ball to play it to Millie Turner, or worst case, open her body up and play it out for a throw in on the right hand side.
Her face painted a picture of her reaction, her hand immediately went up in apology, knowing she had made a mistake straight away. This wasn't the one that ultimately cost her team, but her erratic nature and poor mistakes will certainly take some of the attention.
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Hemp, Kelly and Roord - The magic three making it happen:
As much as Bunny Shaw will take the plaudits for the performance today, the three behind the City striker, Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly and Jill Roord all allowed her to flourish.
Hemp and Roord both got on the scoresheet too within 18 seconds of eachother, while Kelly made the first goal with a sensational turn past Hannah Blundell and intricate pullback for the Dutch International Roord.
After the second goal, a brilliant finish from Hemp, pictures have been seen of Chloe Kelly wheeling away and cupping her ear to the Stretford End, which didn't go down well with the majority of the crowd!
Roord, City's only signing of the summer was the standout of the three, covering practically every blade of grass and ensuring that City remained in control of the game, even after going down to ten.
With these three on song in the middle of the park, along with Shaw's performance up top, this result will have sent out a message to Arsenal and Chelsea, that Gareth Taylor's team can mix it with the best of them.
