CAROLINE WEIR was Manchester United’s nightmare in blue again as Man City crushed their neighbours in the FA Cup’s fifth round.
And Gareth Taylor praised his aces for giving him a birthday weekend win with a 4-1 thrashing of their rivals.
Caroline Weir was on target with the second of Manchester City’s four goals against Man United
Lauren Hemp levelled for the visitors after the Red Devils took a first-half lead at Leigh Sports Village
The visitors ran riot at the Red Devils’ home ground nabbing three second-half goals in just TEN minutes.
And Weir was on target for the third time in four derby encounters going back to February later year.
This time she netted with a less flashy strike that rolled under the body of Mary Earps in a calamitous moment for the United keeper.
That goal was among the efforts that helped City bounce back from a 1-0 deficit to reach the FA Cup quarters for a seventh successive season.
Taylor, who turned 49 on Friday, said: “Giving away a poor goal like we did that went straight in from the corner was disappointing. It affected us a little bit and gave United impetus.
“At halftime, I told the girls we’ve got to step it up and be more streetwise in our pressing and defending.
“In the second half, we showed what a good team we are.”
United entered the game looking to avenge their narrow 1-0 derby loss time out.
They got off to a flier in the first half with skipper Katie Zelem curling in a stunning strike from a 13th-minute corner-kick.
However, the second spell was a different story with Hayley Raso replacing Jess Park and Weir coming on for injured Vicky Losada.
And Man City levelled with Raso’s dangerous cross finding Lauren Hemp who slotted home in the 50th minute.
A Hannah Blundell error saw the visitors go 2-1 up nine minutes later, with Ellen White taking advantage of Blundell’s header back to Earps to score.
They increased their tally with Weir netting with half an hour of normal time left.
Khadija Shaw came off the bench to pinch a fourth before the visitors saw Julie Blakstad’s strike disallowed following a foul.
The result saw United fall to their third loss in five games with boss Marc Skinner questioning his players’ desire to win their duels on the pitch.
Man United got on the score sheet with Katie Zelem’s stunning goal from a corner kick
The United gaffer said: “It doesn’t matter what Manchester City do if we get to a moment where we let our standards drop, you get beat.”
“There are ingredients to win games of football. At the base of those is winning one-v-one duels.
“In the first half we did that but in the second we didn’t.”
