Red-hot Shaw hammers four past Villa in WSL - Jamaican creates history in passing 100-goal mark for Manchester City

MANCHESTER, England:

Manchester City forward Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw scored a rare beaver-trick, and created history in the British competition, to help her side thump Aston Villa 6-1 and maintain their lead at the top of the Women's Super League (WSL) on Sunday.

The Jamaica international netted in the 37th, 45th, 85th and 90th minutes, and along with strikes by Aoba Fujino (62') and Vivianne Miedema (73'), saw City end the year on a winning note and restore their six-point lead over defending champions Chelsea.

FIRST TO LANDMARK

Shaw's opening goal was her 100th in all competitions for City - the first time a female player has reached that landmark for the club in the professional era.

Villa started well at Joie Stadium but could not keep pace after Shaw dominated their defence in the penalty area, getting in front of her marker to meet Miedema's perfectly executed pass for the first, then turning sharply to make space for her second to make it 2-0.

Fujino added a third in the second half, before Villa pulled one back when Lucy Parker headed in from a corner in the 70th minute.

Their celebration was short-lived when Fujino teed Miedema for City's fourth three minutes later.

Shaw then saw an audacious curling effort smack off the post in the second half, before completing her hat-trick in the 84th minute after substitute Kerolin laid on a simple finish.

And just as Villa may have thought it could not get any worse as the clock ticked down, Shaw thumped in her fourth in stoppage time.

With her performance, Shaw now has 12 goals from 11 matches in the WSL, seven more than her nearest challengers.

Shaw has already secured legendary status at City and is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in world football.

Her goalscoring rate is astonishing. She now has 103 goals in 120 appearances for City in all competitions, with 74 in the WSL.

- CMC