City grab first win of the season with Brighton turnaround | OneFootball

City came from behind to beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 in our first home match of the Barclays Women’s Super League season.

The visitors took an early lead when Fran Kirby reacted quickest to a loose ball in the City area and fired into the far corner.

But we drew ourselves level before the hour mark when Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw powered home a Leila Ouahabi cross after a sustained period of pressure from the Blues.

And the winner would eventually arrive with 15 to play, when Yui Hasegawa slipped in behind the Brighton defence and swept home to secure our first three points of the campaign.

What happened

As was the case in 2024/25, City’s first home match of the campaign saw us welcome the Seagulls to the Joie Stadium and, once again, the visitors caused plenty of problems in the early exchanges.

They then took the lead after 14 minutes when Kirby was first to react to a loose ball in the City area, which had come after Khiara Keating had parried Michelle Agyemang’s curling effort.

But the Blues responded almost immediately when Lauren Hemp’s mazy run down the left eventually found Vivianne Miedema, who fired just wide.

Iman Beney, making her home debut, went close soon after with quick feet opening up the chance, only to fire over from the edge of the area.

City were starting to find our rhythm, with Shaw stinging the palms of Chiamaka Nnadozie on the half hour as we searched for a leveller.

It was a similar story soon after the restart, with Miedema dragging an effort wide after a favourable knockdown from a Kerstin Casparij cross.

But the pressure would eventually tell just before the hour when Shaw ghosted away from her marker to meet a delicious Ouahabi cross to the far post, finding the net with a diving header through the hands of Nnadozie.

Jeglertz injected fresh legs into the City attack soon after, with Aoba Fujino and Kerolin both entering the fray, and the former would have a huge hand in the Blues taking the lead.

After some clever build-up on the edge of the Brighton box, Fujino’s clever ball in behind found Hasegawa, who steadied herself and confidently stroked home what would prove the winner.

Key takeaways

Gritty City - City were edged out by Chelsea in our WSL opener last week, but Jeglertz said he was impressed by his players’ belief throughout the contest. That sort of grit was on show again at the Joie Stadium, against a Brighton side who will cause plenty of teams problems this season. Shaw’s equaliser came after a sustained period of City pressure, before Hasegawa’s smart link-up with Japan team-mate Fujino turned the game on its head. It might not have been pretty at times, but the Blues got over the line. That sort of quality can’t be overstated.

Bright Beney - A huge positive for City came in the form of Beney’s home debut, with the Switzerland international’s driving runs and clever flicks causing the visitors plenty of problems. Still just 19, the teenager started on the right of a front three and combined well with Casparij down the flank, also doing well to keep Michelle Agyemang fairly quiet by her usual standards. If her home debut was anything to go by, City have a huge prospect in our ranks.

How we lined up

Andrée Jeglertz made four chances from our WSL opener, with Khiara Keating, Leila Ouahabi, Laura Blindkilde Brown and Iman Beney introduced.

Keating’s goal was shielded by a back three of Gracie Prior, Alex Greenwood and Leila Ouahabi, with Yui Hasegawa and Laura Blindkilde Brown starting as a midfield two.

Kerstin Casparij and Lauren Hemp were on the flanks, with Vivianne Miedema and Beney providing support for centre-forward, Bunny Shaw.

City XI: Keating, Prior, Greenwood (C), Ouahabi (Layzell 84’), Casparij, Blindkilde Brown, Hasegawa, Hemp, Beney (Fujino 63’), Miedema (Kerolin 63’), Shaw

SUBS: Yamashita, Rose, Coombs, Wienroither, Thomas, Lewis

Brighton XI: Nnadozie, Minami, Symonds (C) (Camacho 88'), Agyemang, Cankovic, Kirby (Noordam 46’), Rayner (Seike 63’), Olislagers, Haley (Kafaji 81’), McLauchlan (Auee 63’), Rule

SUBS: Baggaley, Carabali, Hayes, Tsunoda

As a result

City pick up our first three points of the WSL season, moving up to sixth in the process.

Up next

The Blues are back on the road in our next WSL clash, taking on Tottenham Hotspur on Friday 19 September.

Kick-off at the Gaughan Group Stadium is set for 19:30 (UK).