Jane Ross (2), Jill Scott, Georgia Stanway and Izzy Christiansen grabbed the goals in an afternoon of world class strikes from the Blues.
Nick Cushing made four changes from the last outing against Aston Villa at the start of July with Christiansen, Karen Bardsley, Abbie McManus and Georgia Stanway replacing Tessel Middag, Marie Hourihan, Demi Stokes and Kosovare Aslanni.
City flew out of the blocks and were ahead inside five minutes as Ross bagged her first of the game. Christiansen forced the Notts County defence into a mistake and the Scottish striker was on hand to apply the finish from an acute angle.
The Blues continued to apply the pressure and came close to doubling their lead ten minutes later. A flowing move saw Scott latch onto Nikita Parris’ knockdown before dragging her shot narrowly wide.
Christiansen had a chance of her own in the 24th minute when she broke into the box, only to see her low shot palmed away by Megan Walsh in the Notts County goal.
However, City doubled their lead just moments later from the resulting phase of play. A cleverly-worked set piece fell to Megan Campbell, who whipped a ball into the six yard area and Scott rose above her marker to nod home for 2-0.
Cushing’s side continued to throw bodies forward in an attempt to find a third goal and their attempts were rewarded shortly before half time.
Ross was picked out by Christiansen and she took a touch to set herself before curling the ball past the outstretched hand of Walsh and into the top corner for a three-goal advantage.
Another stunning strike was to follow in the first minute of added time as Stanway added her name to the scoresheet. A corner wasn’t fully cleared and the 17-year old rifled a shot into the top corner from the edge of the area to cap off a fantastic first half performance.
Two minutes after the restart, the home side reduced the deficit as City conceded for the first time in the league this season.
Steph Houghton brought down Rachel Williams in the area and Jess Clarke fired home from the resulting spot kick to reduce the lead to three goals.
Parris had a chance to restore the four-goal advantage in the 58th minute but she was denied by a fantastic save by Walsh in a one-on-one situation.
Manager Nick Cushing was forced into his first change of the game shortly after as McManus departed the game on a stretcher and was replaced by Demi Stokes.
The three points were secured with 17 minutes to play as Christiansen marked her return to the starting XI with a wonderful half-volley from 25 yards that flew into the top corner to make it 5-1.
City had further chances to increase their lead late on but Houghton was denied by a great save from Walsh before Tessel Middag hit the crossbar with the last kick of the game.
The final whistle sounded immediately after the Middag chance and the win was confirmed as the Blues kept their place at the top of the league ahead of next week’s clash with Sunderland.
