Manchester City 2-1 Brighton: City come from behind to edge Seagulls | OneFootball

Manchester City kicked off their 2025/26 Women’s Super League home campaign at the Joie Stadium with a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in a contest that showcased both resilience and attacking flair.

Once again, the Seagulls proved a challenging opponent in the early stages, but goals from Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and Yui Hasegawa cancelled out Fran Kirby’s first half opener to give City their first three points of the season.

As it happened

Brighton drew first blood after 14 minutes. Khiara Keating managed to parry Michelle Agyemang’s curling effort, but Kirby was quickest to react, pouncing on the loose ball to give the Seagulls an early lead. The goal, however, only ignited City’s response. Lauren Hemp carved her way down the left with trademark skill, delivering a teasing ball to Vivianne Miedema, whose effort went wide.

City continued to build momentum. Iman Beney, who made her home debut, impressed with her quick feet and intelligent movement, creating space on the edge of the area, though her shot sailed over the bar. Andrée Jeglertz’s side were finding their rhythm, with Shaw forcing a sharp save from Chiamaka Nnadozie in the 30th minute as City relentlessly pressed for an equaliser.

Brighton’s Nnadozie was the busier of the two goalkeepers and did well to save on numerous occasions from both Miedema and Shaw before the interval, but the Seagulls’ rhythm was upset when their goal-scorer was withdrawn and made way for Nadine Noordam at the start of the second half.

The second half mirrored the first, with City dominating possession but finding Brighton stubborn in defence. Miedema came close again, meeting a clever knockdown from a Kerstin Casparij cross, only to drag her shot wide. Persistence paid off just before the hour mark. Shaw ghosted away from her marker to meet a perfectly floated Leila Ouahabi cross at the far post, diving to head beyond Nnadozie and level the score.

Jeglertz then injected fresh energy with the returns of Aoba Fujino and Kerolin from injury instantly transforming the attacking threat. After slick interplay on the edge of the Brighton box, Fujino slipped the ball to Hasegawa who side-footed an effort beyond Nnadozie to clinch victory for City with less than 20 minutes left to play.

The game was tight but the home side came away with a hard-fought win. They will now prepare for Tottenham Hotspur next Friday, while Brighton will be getting ready to host West Ham United at the weekend.

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