City fall to WSL defeat at Brighton | OneFootball

A second half fightback from Brighton & Hove Albion consigned WSL leaders City to a 3-2 defeat at Broadfield Stadium.

Kerolin’s deflected effort handed the Blues the lead inside five minutes, but the hosts levelled in first half stoppage time through Madison Haley.

Kiko Seike then found the top corner from a tight angle to give Brighton an early second half lead, with Haley nodding in a third just after the hour to ensure Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw’s late effort was a consolation.

Despite defeat, City’s WSL title prospects remain in our own hands, although the race for top spot will likely go on for another few weeks.

What happened

We were almost gifted the opener inside 15 seconds when the hosts surrendered possession to Shaw, but after Chiamaka Nnadozie had got a glove to the ball and knocked it into the path of Aoba Fujino, the winger fired wide from a tight angle.

We didn’t have to wait long for the opener though, with our sustained pressure eventually seeing Kerolin fire a deflected effort into the net from a central position.

It was a remarkable start from the Blues, with Shaw then striking the foot of the post within two minutes of the opener.

We were thankful to Ayaka Yamashita for a fantastic save at the other end though to deny Fran Kirby, blocking her effort at point blank range before clawing the ball off the line.

City continued to have the better of the opening 45, even though the hosts were growing into the contest.

But Brighton would pull level in first half stoppage time, with Haley finishing off a well-worked team move by firing into the bottom corner.

The game was then turned on its head two minutes into the second 45, as Seike finished off a Brighton counter-attack with a smart finish at Yamashita’s near post.

City pressed forward in search of the equaliser, with Fujino forcing a fine save from Nnadozie just after the hour, but Brighton again caught us on the counter to extend their lead when Haley bundled home on the rebound after an initial save from Yamashita.

Shaw halved the deficit with a clinical first-time finish from substitute Iman Beney’s pass in behind, but it wasn’t enough to earn at least a point.

Setback

A victory for City could’ve seen the WSL title wrapped up as early as Wednesday with favourable results elsewhere, but our push to be crowned champions will have to wait.

The visitors started brilliantly with Shaw and Fujino going close to adding to Kerolin’s opener, before the Brazilian also saw a one-on-one effort saved by Nnadozie.

Brighton were far from out of the contest though despite City’s pressure, and their goal in first half stoppage time shifted the momentum.

Andrée Jeglertz’s side continued to battle for a route back into the game, but the Seagulls made their chances count.

How we lined up

Brighton XI: Nnadozie, Vanegas, Minami, Symonds (C), Cankovic (Noordam 81’), Seike (Kafaji 88’), Kirby (Camacho 88’), Hayes, Olislagers, Haley, Rule (McLauchlan 46’)

Brighton Subs: Poulter, Baggaley, Rayner, Tvedten, Tsunoda

City XI: Yamashita, Rose, Knaak, Greenwood (C), Casparij (Beney 68’), Blindkilde Brown (Clinton 68’), Hasegawa, Hemp, Fujino (Coombs 81’), Kerolin (Fowler 58’), Shaw.

City Subs: Keating, Ouahabi, Prior, Oyama, Murphy.

Up next

City host Liverpool in our final home match of the 2025/26 campaign.

We welcome the Reds to the Joie Stadium on Sunday 3 May at 12:00 (UK).

All available tickets are currently sold out for the game, though a limited number of wheelchair-accessible tickets remain available, along with seats listed on the Ticket Exchange by Season Ticket Members.

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