Man City Women 2-4 Man Utd Women: Ella Toone hits hat-trick as sloppy mistakes punished in entertaining WSL derby | Football news

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Ella Toone scored a hat-trick on her return to WSL action as Manchester United Women punished Manchester City Women’s sloppy mistakes to win 4-2 in a pulsating Manchester derby.

Toone missed games in November and December with a calf injury and continued his scoring return to form with an incredible hat-trick at the Etihad Stadium.

Man Utd were sharper from the start and Toone made it the first in the 14th minute. Elisabeth Terland miscued but the English midfielder lurked to head home. Leah Galton (21) then doubled the lead soon after, scoring from close range as Man City failed to clear a corner.

Gareth Taylor’s side continued to struggle, with a poorly placed back pass – which came just seconds after the second when Terland almost scored – allowing Toone to score his second goal (36). She latched on to a loose pass before slotting a simple shot past her England team-mate Khiara Keating.

But the recovery seemed to begin at the end of the first half as Man City scored twice to bring the score back to 3-2. Vivianne Miedema (40) – herself returning to league action from injury – headed home Mary Fowler’s cross, before Rebecca Knaak (45+3) scored her first WSL goal since joining the club a few weeks ago.

However, 10 seconds after the restart, another moment to forget for Keating allowed Toone to complete his hat-trick. The keeper hung on to the ball too long from the kick-off, with the deflection falling into Toone’s path. She won the race against Keating and scored a goal.

For all their errors at one end, Man City poured in shots and chances in a dominant second half. However, some inspired moments from Phallon Tullis-Joyce prevented them from making a real comeback.

It is Manchester Utd’s first away win in a Manchester derby and sends them above Man City into third place in the WSL table. Taylor’s side – who have now lost back-to-back games in the WSL – drop to fourth place, two points off a Champions League place.