Manchester City comfortably saw off West Ham 2-0 to move top of the Women s Super League, with Lauren Hemp making history in the process.
With Chelsea s fixture against Manchester United having been postponed, City took the chance to, at least temporarily, move into top spot.
Gareth Taylor s team were well in control throughout Sunday s contest at Joie Stadium, where England international Hemp put City ahead in the 10th minute.
Hemp raced onto Mary Fowler s pass before calmly creating space to plant a neat finish low into the left-hand corner, bringing up her 50th WSL goal.
She should have doubled her tally early in the second half, only to slice over a gaping goal from point-blank range.
Fowler made no such mistake as she headed home in the 71st minute, with the Australian latching onto a brilliant cross from Khadija Shaw, who had capitalised on a slack backpass having just come on as a substitute.
Camila Saez sent a tame free-kick into the hands of Ayaka Yamashita late on, with West Ham unable to truly test the hosts, who also had Jill Roord back in action after her long-awaited return from a knee injury.
50 With her opener against West Ham today, Lauren Hemp has become the youngest player in history to score 50 goals (24y 60d). Milestone.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Data Debrief: Half-century up for Hemp
While Hemp will be frustrated with her second-half miss, she has a slice of WSL history to her name. At the age of 24 years and 60 days, she became the youngest player to hit the 50-goal mark in the competition.
Kinga Szemik, the West Ham goalkeeper, also made two fine saves to deny Hemp later on.
Hemp finished with 1.18 expected goals (xG) from a game-leading six shots, as City finished with 2.43 xG to West Ham s 0.49.
