Khadija Shaw hat-trick fires Manchester City to emphatic WSL win over Spurs

How do you stop Khadija Shaw? The correct answer remains a mystery, but many of the wrong answers were unwittingly exposed by Tottenham's out-of-sorts defending on Friday night during this one-sided affair.

Inside the first minute, the Spurs centre-back Clare Hunt learned the hard way that ideally you should not take too long on the ball when being closed down by the Women's Super League's top scorer so far this season, otherwise she will easily nip the ball away from your feet, bear down on your team's goal and clinically tuck the ball into the net past your goalkeeper, Rebecca Spencer.

The visitors also learned the hard way that, when the England winger Lauren Hemp lifts a high cross towards Shaw in the six-yard box, it would be preferable to keep your eye on the ball and challenge for the header. Unfortunately Hunt, peering over her shoulder to look for Shaw, did neither of those things and the Jamaica striker was presented with the easiest of headers to make it 2-0 inside the first quarter of an hour.

It would be wrong to lay the blame entirely at Hunt's door but when the Australia defender was substituted at half-time, it felt like a kindness. The former Paris Saint-Germain player is an Olympian and a World Cup semi-finalist but even a defender of such international calibre and experience appeared daunted by the task of facing Shaw in this kind of form.

The Switzerland defender Luana Bühler also paid the price for not marking tightly enough at the back post from a low Hemp cross in the 67th minute, allowing Shaw to complete her third hat-trick in her five WSL starts against Tottenham, tormenting the north London club yet again. It was Shaw's 12th goal in those five games against Spurs and she became the first player to score three hat-tricks against the same opponent in the WSL's 13-year history. It was also Hemp's third assist of the night, as the Manchester City winger proved equally unplayable at times.

The Netherlands midfielder Jill Roord had already fired home Manchester City's third goal of the night from close range just moments earlier, shortly after Hemp had struck an effort that hit both posts before bouncing clear. So by making it 4-0, Shaw was simply turning the hosts' dominance into a scoreline that more closely reflected how on top they had been.

Lily Murphy struck the side-netting late into the game as Gareth Taylor's team continued to threaten even after the City youngster had replaced Shaw with 12 minutes remaining to give the player of the match a well-deserved rest.

This was Taylor's team's 21st victory in their past 23 WSL fixtures and it provided another sign for their rivals that they mean business this season, after so narrowly missing out on the title in the final furlong last term.

Tottenham had arrived at the Etihad off the back of a morale-boosting, last-gasp victory over West Ham United last Sunday but Robert Vilahamn's side were outclassed on Friday and registered only a single shot on target. They know they will need to improve for next Saturday's hotly anticipated north London derby against their neighbours Arsenal. And that feeling will only have been strengthened by the news of the result from the Emirates Stadium.

In Friday's earlier kick-off, produced their best display of the season so far to earn a 5-0 victory at home to third-placed . Extending their unbeaten run under the leadership of their interim head coach, Renée Slegers, with a third victory from a possible four, Arsenal enjoyed victory with goals from Beth Mead, Caitlin Foord, Frida Maanum and Lina Hurtig before the England striker Alessia Russo netted a 95th-minute penalty to score for a second game in a row and complete the rout, in front of 22,467 fans.

It was only Brighton's second defeat of the season and the convincing result saw Arsenal move up to fourth and within just one point of the Sussex club, but still seven points adrift of the leaders Manchester City, who themselves now hold a four-point advantage over second-placed Chelsea. The defending champions Chelsea have two games in hand, starting with Sunday's trip to Liverpool, but they will be aware that Manchester City are in something of a purple patch and show no sign of easing off in the near future.