Khadija Shaw only needed 90 minutes to remind the rest of the WSL exactly what they're up against.

Manchester City opened their title defence with a 3-1 win over Birmingham City on 6 September, and while the scoreline tells one story, the performance tells another. Shaw was everywhere, and frankly, she should have had the match ball sewn up long before she actually got going.

Baggaley vs Everyone

The first half belonged almost entirely to Sophie Baggaley. The Birmingham goalkeeper was flat-out inspired, and without her City's tally could have been embarrassing by the break. She kept out two Shaw headers from Lauren Hemp's deliveries, pulled off a remarkable stop to deny Alex Greenwood, a diving effort to her right from a downward header, and then rushed out quickly to shut down Aoba Fujino. Birmingham were being completely overrun, but their goalkeeper refused to let it show on the scoreboard.

It's the kind one-woman show that deserves recognition. Baggaley made City work for every single thing they got, and in another game, on another day, she might have held them out entirely.

The goals did come though, because quality finds a way. [The WSL's title race was always going to be fascinating this season](/uprise/football/the-wsl-returns-bigger-than-ever-and-with-a-mouthwatering), and City have wasted no time making their intentions plain.

Shaw Does What Shaw Does

Mary Fowler opened the scoring four minutes into the second half, collecting a loose ball and stroking it home from 12 yards. Calm, composed, done. Six minutes after that, Shaw finally got what the first half had owed her, heading home Kerstin Casparij's corner to make it 2-0.

Baggaley continued to frustrate, denying Shaw again by throwing herself across goal, then watching Hemp fire over. But it was only ever delaying the inevitable. In the 86th minute Shaw was at it again, this time from a Beth Mead corner, and that was that. Oceane Hurtre added a 90th-minute consolation for Birmingham after a defensive error, giving the scoreline a flattering look from the visitors' perspective.

Shaw is City's record goalscorer. She hit 21 goals last season and is already off the mark here. Based on what we saw against Birmingham, the only question is how high she goes this time. [When you look at how the transfer market has shaped this WSL season](/uprise/football/wsl-transfer-talking-points-three-things-we-learned-from-the), City's investment in maintaining a winning squad looks shrewder by the week.

Our Take

Andree Jeglertz's side are not messing about. Title-defending sides can come out flat, distracted, or short of sharpness. City came out and battered a team for 45 minutes before the goals even arrived. That is a mentality as much as a quality statement.

Birmingham made them work, and Baggaley deserves enormous credit for keeping the first half respectable. But once the floodgates opened, this was comfortable.

Shaw is the best striker in this league and she is hungry. That should worry everyone else quite a lot.