Manchester City's grasp on the Women's Super League title tightened with an emphatic victory over Tottenham at Joie Stadium.

Khadija Shaw, who now has 18 goals in 18 WSL matches, netted a 12-minute hat-trick to put City in control.

It was the fastest hat-trick in WSL history and her fourth successive one against Tottenham at home in the league.

All three of Shaw's goals were headers as Tottenham could not handle City's set-pieces and were easily beaten in the air.

The visitors, who suffered successive defeats for the first time in the league this season, drew level for three minutes when Olivia Holdt snuck in behind City's backline early in the first half.

That cancelled out Shaw's opening header - but the Jamaica international restored City's lead shortly afterwards.

Kerolin scooped in Lauren Hemp's pull-back and City had five goals before half-time when Amanda Nilden deflected Vivianne Miedema's header into her own net.

With the game already taken away from Tottenham, there was little Martin Ho's side could do and City cruised to victory, knowing three wins in their final four games will guarentee they win the league.

Having been held to a goalless draw at Aston Villa last weekend - just the third time this season City have dropped points - Andree Jeglertz's side needed to respond.

Noise has been growing externally about their title hopes and they are already being referred to as the champions elect.

It feels like a matter of time before they can celebrate a first WSL title in a decade, and they can get their hands on the trophy even earlier if rivals drop points.

But first, City must keep winning.

They faced a Tottenham side who have impressed this season and were themselves looking to respond from a defeat by Everton.

However, the ease in which City took control of the game - and the ruthlessness of Shaw - meant it was never a contest in the Manchester sunshine.

Should City win the league, Shaw's heroics will have played an integral part.

Her athleticism in the air, her reading of the flight of the ball and her ability to shrug off defenders in the box is unmatched and was on full display at the Joie Stadium.

Even without Japanese trio Yui Hasegawa, Aoba Fujino and Ayaka Yamashita - who celebrated winning the Women's Asian Cup on Saturday morning - City look formidable and proved yet again they are worthy of being WSL champions.

Tottenham manager Ho demanded a response from his side this week after an uncharacteristically poor display at home to Everton.

They have put themselves in a position to challenge for the top four and were an outside bet for a Women's Champions League qualification spot.

But with back-to-back defeats, and rivals Arsenal to come next, it has been a damaging month for Spurs.

They were shown the level they need to reach on a consistent basis and the ruthlessness that separates the best teams and the rest.

Spurs rolled over far too easily in the first half and though they improved later on - Bethany England forcing a smart save from goalkeeper Khiara Keating - the game was already done and dusted.

This result does not undo their progress this season but Ho will have been disappointed by the ease with which City scored from set-pieces.

They will welcome the return of starting centre-backs Toko Koga and Clare Hunt from the Asian Cup, as well as on-loan Chelsea forward Maika Hamano, Japan's match-winner in Sydney. All three were noticeable absentees on Saturday.

It's a big game for City up next as they take on local rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday, 28 March (13:30 GMT).

On the same day, Tottenham hope to return to winning ways when they face north London rivals Arsenal at the Emirates (17:30 GMT).

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