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

Toone missed November and December with a calf injury but continued his return to goal-scoring form with a superb hat-trick at the Etihad Stadium.

“I’ve been through a lot and when I got injured it was a blessing in disguise,” Thune told Sky Sports after the game.

“Looking back now, I needed it, not only physically but mentally as well. I used my time wisely to get healthier and stronger, but more importantly, take care of myself.”

“I let the girls know – ‘Girls, I’ve never scored in a Manchester derby and I’ve never scored against Manchester City’ and for a girl who supports Manchester United, I know what those derbies mean What. I want to go into every game and make something happen on the court and make a difference for the girls.

“But today, I wanted a goal and managed to score three, so it was a special day for me and I couldn’t have done it without the players and the staff.”

United were sharper from the start, with Toone scoring the opener in the 14th minute. Elizabeth Trand’s shot misfired, but the England midfielder lurked and slotted it home. Leah Galton (21) doubled the lead shortly after, turning home from close range as City failed to clear a corner.

Gareth Taylor’s side continued to struggle and just seconds after Terland came close to scoring, he sent in a poorly placed pass from the back for Toone (Toone) scored the second goal (36). She latched on to a loose pass and simply slotted past England team-mate Khiara Keating to score.

But at the end of the first half, Manchester City seemed to have begun to recover. Manchester City scored twice to chase the score to 3-2. Vivianne Miedema (40) – herself returning from injury – headed home from Mary Fowler’s pass before Rebecca Rebecca Knaak (45+3) scored her first WSL goal since joining the club a few weeks ago.

However, 10 seconds after the game restarted, Keating forgot another moment, allowing Toon to complete his hat-trick. After the kick-off, the goalkeeper stayed on the ball too long and the ball deflected into the path of Toon. She won a run against Keating and entered the empty net.

Although City made a lot of mistakes at one end, they dominated the second half but accumulated shots and chances. However, some inspiring moments from Fallon Tullis-Joyce prevented a real comeback.

It was United’s first away win in the Manchester derby, taking them above Manchester City into third place in the WSL standings. Taylor’s side have now lost consecutive games in the WSL and dropped to fourth place, just two points away from a Champions League spot.

Analysis: Error-ridden Manchester City lack plan B

Sky Sports’ Laura Hunt:

Is this the moment United enter the title race? A derby win that all but ended City’s hopes of a second WSL title made it all the sweeter.

Gareth Taylor’s side started second and finished fourth. The numerous mistakes they made were completely out of character but also reflected United’s shamelessness.

Fortune favors the brave.

They pressed high from the first minute, creating turnovers and capitalizing on every City mistake.

Marc Skinner’s side dominated the hosts, but City enjoyed 74% of possession. The fact that United scored four goals with such little possession makes the result all the more remarkable.

City often rely on their ability to overwhelm opponents and bring them to their knees, and without any plan B, they are beaten by more shrewd game plans.

Praise for Thune: She is an inspiration

Manchester United goal scorer Ella Thun arrive Sky Sports:

“We were speechless too. It was a derby so it meant a lot. We made a huge turn and performed well. I think we deserved it.

“We do a good job. Sometimes people overlook us but we know what kind of squad we have. We have character, we have attitude, we have work rate and we give it our all every time we step on the pitch, We enjoy playing together.”

Manchester United goalkeeper Philan Tullis Joyce arrive sky sports:

“We have a very tough team and women who are ready to overcome and that’s what we saw today, especially Thuney.

“She’s an absolute inspiration. From the side, she’s the first one on the training ground and the last one to leave. She’s earned every second of this moment with the hard work she’s put in to come back.”

Manchester United manager Mark Skinner arrive sky sports:

“Sometimes you may get messages from above. The reality is that Ella has played a lot of football in the last two or three years and has grown and had a lot of experience. For me, we need a Thuny who loves football, It’s so exciting and we need players like this in England and Manchester United.

“At the end of the game I asked her if she enjoyed the game and she said, yes. I’ll take that with the three points because it’s all about the people at Manchester United.”

Taylor: We were wrong

Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor arrive sky sports:

“Our playmaking is usually a very important part of our game. It’s the way I like to play because it allows us to arrive as a team, but tonight we made mistakes in a lot of situations.

“The goals we conceded killed the momentum. We were good between the boxes but missed too many chances.

“These were simple goals. Sometimes when you play like that, when the decision-making is wrong, it’s frustrating to give up everything we did in this way. The fourth goal was difficult Accept it because this is a situation we don’t need to be in.”

talking about Kiara Keating’s series of mistakes”, he added: “It was difficult for her, she is a young goalkeeper, but she was really good for us. This is not the first time, this happened last season and all goalkeepers have experienced this. What we want to see is the strength of character come back. “

Skinner: We let Manchester City make mistakes

Manchester United manager Mark Skinner arrive sky sports:

“My pleasure comes from the team enjoying their football and we gave ourselves a good performance. I know we will talk about the mistakes City made but we allowed them to make mistakes.

“We’ve had some criticism this season in big games that we’ve been a bit passive but tonight we were just ‘right and we’ll chase Manchester City’. We forced mistakes and we got our reward tonight.

“I’ve been here before. Two seasons ago we won at the Emirates Stadium. We took the game to the team and our team is young again. They have to learn these big stage environments. Tonight was a good one learning curve for them.

“I think the thing that overcomes inexperience is character and fearlessness. I felt like we had a lot of character and fearlessness tonight.”

“It’s a huge win for us as a club. We’ll play them again on Wednesday (in the Carabao Cup) and it will be interesting.

“We’re going to rest, recover and be ready to play them again.”

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