Three goals in ten minutes turned this FA Cup tie on its head and saw the blue half of Manchester grab the bragging rights as well as a place in the quarter-finals.
It was the same old story for United, whose second-half capitulation allowed City to claim their second win over the neighbours in two weeks.
United led 1-0 at half-time through Katie Zelem, who scored straight from a corner. But a deadly triple burst from Lauren Hemp, Ellen White and Caroline Weir paved the way to a resounding win at Leigh Sports Village.
Manchester United captain Katie Zelem broke the deadlock by scoring directly from a corner
To rub salt into the wound, Khadija Shaw added a fourth seconds after coming off the subs’ bench.
‘It didn’t feel like us’, said Marc Skinner, the United head coach. ‘As a group, we cannot have the standard drop from the first half to the second half.
‘We had the first half, we could control that and we let it slip. It doesn’t matter what Manchester City do, if we let our standards slip we don’t win the game.’
When United captain Zelem struck, the hosts were dominant. They played the ball around nicely, were astute in their defence and, on the balance of play, probably deserved to be leading by a wider margin.
But they failed to make their opportunities count.
Lauren Hemp equalised five minutes after half-time after Ellen White flicked on a low cross
White then got on the scoresheet herself as she pounced on a defensive error from United
That has been the story of so many United games this season. While they often go through bursts of play in which they are on top, they struggle to maintain it for 90 minutes,
And so it wasn’t too much of a surprise when Hemp levelled, drilling into the bottom-right corner when White flicked on Hayley Raso’s low cross.
But what was surprising was the manner in which City got back into the game. Minutes after the equaliser, White latched onto Hannah Blundell’s mistimed header, rounded goalkeeper Mary Earps and put her side in front.
Then, just as things seemed they couldn’t get worse for United, they did. The ball found its way to Weir inside the box, and Earps failed to a make a routine save, instead letting the ball roll under her.
Caroline Weir added a third when she beat an out-of-sorts Mary Earps at her near post
The England keeper had an uncharacteristically poor performance, and City’s fourth came easily when she failed to properly parry Julie Blasktad’s shot, allowing fellow substitute Shaw to tap in the rebound.
Man City boss Gareth Taylor added: ‘It was a statement performance from us. United are a good team, but we put them to the sword second half.’
Two weeks ago City beat the neighbours 1-0 in the Women’s Super League. United must hate the sight of them.