MANCHESTER, England (CMC):
KHADIJA ‘BUNNY’ Shaw’s hat-trick helped Manchester City extend their lead at the top of the Women’s Super League (WSL) with an impressive 4-0 thrashing of Tottenham here Friday.
It was the Jamaican international’s third hat-trick against Tottenham.
The result saw City remain unbeaten after seven games to move to 19 points, four more than second-placed Chelsea, who have won all five of their matches.
Shaw’s first goal came after just 24 seconds when she pounced on an error by Tottenham defender Clare Hunt to make it 1-0.
She then struck again in the 15th minute when she rose to head home a looping cross from Lauren Hemp past Tottenham’s goalkeeper and fellow Jamaican, Rebecca Spencer.
Hemp then provided another assist, this time to Jill Roord, who made no mistake in firing the ball into the roof of the net to make it 3-0 in the 66th minute.
One minute later, the 27-year-old Shaw completed the rout by guiding the ball into the back of the net after receiving another pinpoint cross from Hemp.
In doing so, she became the first player to record three hat-tricks against the same team and broke her teammate Vivianne Miedema’s record with her sixth career hat-trick in the league.
Shaw’s seven goals also make her the top scorer in the league to date.