There are raindrops depicted on Manchester City’s third kit, with a deliberate nod to the often unsettled weather. Seeing the strip, what catches the eye first, though, is the fluorescent, neon green socks. You cannot fail to notice them and that is now also true of Manchester City in this season’s Women’s Super League title race; a team that quietly went under the radar initially, scarcely being spoken about as contenders, are now unmissable as they keep on winning, shining bright with a six-point lead at the top of the table.
Their latest victory, their ninth in a row in the league, not unlike the climate their kit honours, was not always particularly pretty. They spent well over an hour being frustrated by a Leicester side who were content to keep 11 players behind the ball with a deep, well-organised back five, but this is the sort of game, on a wet lunchtime in the East Midlands, when teams who go on to win titles manage to find a way through. Eventually, Manchester City did so, and then some, with two goals and an assist from Khadija Shaw delivering a 3-0 victory that more closely reflected their control of the contest than the 0-0 scoreline on the 73-minute mark had suggested. The visitors had 75.5% of the possession and 30 shots at goal compared to Leicester’s two.
