Manchester City come out on top in the Manchester derby in front of record attendance at Old Trafford as they beat rivals United 3-1 to go third

Manchester United had waited five years to host their first derby at Old Trafford. But when the moment finally arrived, it was City who grasped it.

From Chloe Kelly riling the United fans, to Lauren Hemp knee-sliding in front of Sir Alex Ferguson stand, this was a day that the blue half of Manchester will remember - and one the Reds will want to forget.

The pressure had been on City after back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Brighton. No team has ever won the WSL with more than two losses in a season and Taylor had admitted they needed to go the rest of the campaign unbeaten to be in with a chance.

It had looked as if any chance of a title challenge was slipping away when Katie Zelem put United ahead with a 21st minute penalty. But City fought back, with goals from Jill Rood, Lauren Hemp and Khadija Shaw earning them a victory they more than deserved.

United boss Marc Skinner had said before kick-off that his side needed to put on a performance that was worth waiting for, but they had only themselves to blame for gifting City a route back into the game with sloppy defending.

Converting their chances has been a recurring problem for City - they failed to score despite taking 35 shots against Brighton - and it looked as if they would be plagued by the same issue again here when Shaw was played through on goal but fired straight at Mary Earps.

Two minutes after that chance, United took the lead. Melvine Malard found space on the right and when she cut in to shoot, her effort was blocked by the outstretched hand of Alex Greenwood. It was a stonewall penalty and Zelem, United’s captain, stepped up and fired into the left corner of the net.

The hosts thought they had doubled their lead on the half hour mark when Geyse finished past Khiara Keating but the assistant referee believed the ball had gone out of play in the build-up. It was impossible to tell from the replays but Geyse was adamant she had kept the ball in play. The decision proved to be crucial as City went up the other end to score two goals in 79 seconds.

Kelly drove down the left and shrugged off Lisa Naalsund to cut back for Rood, who fired into the bottom left corner to bring City level. Eighteen seconds after the re-start, they were ahead. United played themselves into trouble from a goal-kick as Shaw caught Zelem in possession. The midfielder got back to block Shaw’s effort but the ball dropped to Hemp, who fired a phenomenal striker into the top left corner.

United did not learn from their first half errors as yet another slip up at the back gifted City a third. Maya Le Tissier under-hit a back-pass to Earps and the goalkeeper’s clearance was charged down by Shaw, with the ball ricocheting off the striker and into an empty net.

City were in control before a moment of madness from Laia Aleixandri in the 71st minute threatened to undo their good work. The defender was already on a booking when she cynically brought down Lucia Garcia on the halfway line. Foster had no option but to show the defender a second yellow card, forcing City to play the final 20 minutes with 10.

Seven of United’s last 10 goals before Sunday had come after the 76th minute but despite a late onslaught of pressure, they could not find a way through.