MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City might as well get the champagne on ice, with their first Women’s Super League trophy in a decade all but wrapped up in a sparkly blue ribbon. And where better to cement their claim on the WSL title than in their local rivals’ backyard at Old Trafford?

United needed no reminder which club was holding the reins in the WSL title race this season as “we are top of the league” reverberated around the half-empty stadium from the City fans, silencing the subdued home crowd.

That is a bit of an understatement. City are now 11 points clear at the top of the table and could be crowned champions in the next league game against Brighton if fourth-place Arsenal drop points in their three games in hand before then. United is second, but this title contest has always been a one-horse race.

The comfortable 3-0 victory encapsulated on Saturday all the reasons why City are worthy title winners. But perhaps the most standout reason is that they are the only side to have beaten all top three opponents this season after defeating Chelsea 5-1, Arsenal 3-2, and United 6-0 across both league meetings.

This win was all too easy for the visitors, as they took full advantage of United’s exhaustion in the midst of an unexpected run to the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinals against Bayern Munich. Goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce made a fine save in the opening minute, but it wasn’t long before Vivianne Miedema struck twice in two minutes — both with her head — to open City’s account. She was loosely marked for the first, and rather than learning from their mistakes, United’s defense left her even more open for the second after a flowing move.

It was almost a third when Rebecca Knaak headed home in the 25th minute — a carbon copy of the first goal — but referee Kirsty Dowle ruled the goal out for obstruction on Tullis-Joyce by Aoba Fujino.

It was clear that City would not relent, and United had little opportunity to counter. When they could get going in attacking areas, a poor final touch often broke down a promising move. And things got worse in the second half. Having hit the crossbar from range earlier in the game, Lauren Hemp orchestrated the third goal as she barrelled down the pitch to beautifully set up Kerstin Casparij, who was racing into the box.

It is the mark of a worthy winner that even when prolific striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw — in line for another Golden Boot title with 18 goals thus far — was playing far from her best, the team could comfortably cruise to victory. The Jamaica international struggled to bury her chances, but her work rate and physicality still proved too much for United’s backline.

Around this time last season, City fell apart after Shaw was ruled out for the rest of the campaign. Her injury, compounded by the absences of Hemp, Miedema, Alex Greenwood and Mary Fowler, completely derailed their campaign, and they finished outside the top WSL three and exited the UWCL at the semifinal stage.

But this chain of events set them up for success this season, though. After sacking manager Gareth Taylor and bringing in Andree Jeglertz, the squad’s return to full strength and key signings in both transfer windows allowed City to remain in the WSL driver’s seat since that opening-day defeat to Chelsea.

Their lack of European football has arguably been the biggest reason for their sustained success, as they have been able to rest and recover without a backlog of games, but the same can’t be said for United, whose league ambitions fell apart amid their debut UWCL campaign.

The “Theatre of Dreams” has become the “Theatre of Nightmares” for United this week. On Wednesday, they showed spirit to come from behind twice against Bayern Munich, but ultimately lost 3-2, which leaves them with a tough ask to overturn the deficit ahead of the second leg next week.

That result would have stung, but the loss to City would have hurt even more. Though a development from the pair’s first meeting this season — when United failed to register a shot on target in a 3-0 loss at the Etihad — United’s failure to compete with their- two shots on target, 37% possession and only 14 touches in the opposition box, was indicative of the gap between them.

United are clearly a team struggling to balance the WSL and Europe — which is nothing new — but the toll of the UWCL has been high. United have eight key players missing: six through injury, one through suspension, and one due to pregnancy. On Saturday, they had only five outfield substitutes available … three of whom were 18 or under.

“We’re limited with the squad we have,” United boss Marc Skinner said after the game. “The players are giving everything we’ve got. It’s nothing to do with anything more than that. The more fatigued you are, the less likely you are to get that body shape right. Tiredness creeps in.

“How we have to plan going forwards, if we want to continually go to the depths in this competition level, so the Champions League, League, Cups, we have to design the squad with bigger numbers and bigger experience if I’m being honest.”

That kind of thing is likely to impact any team, but United’s squad depth was small to begin with and now their hopes of salvaging their season hang by a thread. They have already lost the League Cup final 2-0 to Chelsea and were knocked out of the FA Cup by the same opponent; they could be out of the WSL top three by Sunday and out of the UWCL by Wednesday.

In truth, they were never going to stop City. The champions-elect have been the only real contenders for the title all season and, though they gave glimmers of hope after the narrow loss to Arsenal and draw with Aston Villa, their early points accumulation (while their opponents were battling through European fixtures), gave them enough of a cushion.

City will soon end their 10-year title drought, and no one could say they aren’t deserving winners; United’s only consolation will be that they didn’t seal it in their own back yard.

HOUSTON — Ben McCollum was furious. Saliva sat on the edge of his lip, but he didn’t wipe it off. He was midtirade, and his Iowa team was down 10 points to Nebraska early in Thursday’s Sweet 16 meeting.

Next to him stood Bennett Stirtz, the Hawkeyes’ stoic star who had seen multiple McCollum outbursts. Stirtz wasn’t fazed.

“He slammed his whiteboard and broke his marker on the hardwood floor. Ink everywhere,” Stirtz said after Iowa’s come-from-behind win over Nebraska. “That’s what he likes to do. He’s the negative guy, and then our assistant coaches are the positive people. He was just telling us we sucked and we were soft.”

McCollum had a different interpretation of that pivotal moment against the Cornhuskers.

“They were moving and cutting, and I didn’t even know what was going on. So … we called [the team] into the huddle and just said very nicely, ‘I would like you to play harder, guys,'” McCollum said. “And it seemed to work. Isn’t that right? Isn’t that how that went?'”

Stirtz nodded his head.

“Yes,” he responded.

McCollum is admittedly demonstrative. Look no further than last Sunday’s near clash with Florida coach Todd Golden during Iowa’s upset of the No. 1 seed in the Round of 32.

Stirtz is the opposite. He’s perpetually cool.

That fire-and-ice pairing of McCollum and Stirtz — who are at their third school together, following stints at Division II Northwest Missouri State (2022-24) and Drake (2024-25) — has fueled Iowa’s surprise run to the Elite Eight. The Hawkeyes went just 10-10 in the Big Ten, yet are on the brink of their first Final Four appearance since 1980. It’s the fourth time in four years that McCollum and Stirtz have advanced in an NCAA tournament together. It’s also the furthest they’ve advanced at any level.

First, they made it to the second round of the 2023 Division II NCAA tournament, where Stirtz scored seven points in a loss to Southern Nazarene. A year after that, they reached the Division II Sweet 16, where Stirtz scored 12 points against Minnesota State before losing to the eventual national champion on a buzzer-beater. And after making the Division I jump to Drake last season, they won a first-round game as Stirtz carried the 11-seeded Bulldogs to a first-round upset of a 6-seeded Missouri with 20 points before running into an Elite Eight-bound Texas Tech in the second round.

There was no surprise when Stritz followed McCollum to Iowa — or when the 2024-25 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year continued to thrive in McCollum’s system. The senior guard earned second-team All-Big Ten honors after finishing fifth in the conference in scoring (19.7 PPG) but has saved his best for the NCAA tournament. His 3-pointer with 2:10 to play in Thursday’s win over Nebraska gave Iowa its first lead of the game. The Hawkeyes never trailed again, closing out the win to set up Saturday’s matchup against Illinois (6:09 p.m. ET).

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Bennett Stirtz gives Iowa a lead with a 3

Bennett Stirtz knocks down a huge 3-pointer for the Hawkeyes.

“You see him on the floor, and then you see me on the sideline — so polar opposites in personalities. Not polar opposites in value,” McCollum said. “He’s super competitive. I’m super competitive. I feel like he works with a level of humility. I feel like he’s a really tough kid. I feel like he serves others, all those different things.”

Added Stirtz: “He shoots it straight. Even when it’s tough and even when it’s hard. He pushes you past your limit, and I think that’s where the trust comes in … he just pushes everyone on this team, and honestly, you can see the benefit from that.”

Minnesota State head coach Matt Margenthaler isn’t shocked by the duo’s success this March. He still has nightmares about Stirtz and McCollum’s Northwest Missouri State squad nearly derailing his team’s Division II championship run in 2023.

Their rise, Margenthaler argues, is a beacon for Division II basketball — proof that players and coaches at that level can be stars at the next, too.

“You always question, I think, when you go up a level, ‘Can he do it at that next level in the Missouri Valley Conference?’ And then he proved that in one year,” Margenthaler told ESPN. “And then, ‘Can he do it again in the Big Ten?’ And then he just continues to amaze the coaching world with what he can do.”

“[Stirtz’s] confidence has grown and grown and grown,” Margenthaler said. “He is obviously a Division I basketball player, but one that has made himself better each year. I mean, what a story: those two guys together and what they’re doing.”

And if you ask McCollum and Stirtz, they’re not done yet.

“In 20 years, it will be an insane story. A guy that goes from Division II with his coach and then goes to Drake and then goes to the University of Iowa and actually makes it farther in the tournament in Division I than he did in Division II,” McCollum said. “I think when you’re a player-coach [relationship] sometimes, you obviously care for each other and love each other and all of that, but you don’t get to connect on [this] kind of level. But it’s been a hell of a ride, but it’s far from over.”