Manchester City’s WSL title charge stalls abruptly after shock against Brighton

Kiko Seike and Madison Haley put Manchester City’s title celebrations on hold as Brighton upset the WSL leaders. Three points would have enabled City to take the title as early as Wednesday, depending on the outcome of Arsenal’s match against Leicester. But the race could now go down to the final day, with City still in need of three points.

Brighton could have found themselves at least three goals down within 10 minutes after gifting their opponents several chances – the first of which came after 12 seconds when a terrible backpass from Moeka Minami was intercepted by Khadija Shaw. The striker played a short pass across to Aoba Fujino, who fired her attempt wide.

Kerolin made the hosts pay for their lacklustre start five minutes in, when a panicked clearance from Caitlin Hayes fell straight to her. The Brazilian took a quick touch before sending her strike into the top-left corner.

The chances kept coming for City, with Lauren Hemp coming close and Shaw hitting the post. But as they continued to waste them, Brighton grew into the game.

Haley got the all-important equaliser for the hosts on the stroke of half-time after a clever flick-on from Fran Kirby,. To make matters worse for the league leaders, it took two minutes for Brighton to turn the game on its head after the break. Another excellent through ball from Kirby was met by Seike, who drilled her shot past Ayaka Yamashita from a tight angle.

Madison Haley fires home Brighton’s first goal against Manchester City. Photograph: Cat Goryn/Action Images/Reuters

City struggled to find a spark and could not respond. Unlike their opponents, the hosts made the most of their chances to move two goals clear as Haley completed her first WSL double. After receiving a short pass from Seike in the area, the forward took a touch before forcing a save from Yamashita. The ball deflected upwards, allowing her to head home the rebound.

As the 90-minute mark approached, City made some drastic moves, with Rebecca Knaak moving from centre-back to centre-forward. Their risk was rewarded when Shaw latched on to a pass forward by Iman Beney and placed her shot into the bottom corner.

Although they cannot be surpassed by Chelsea, the reigning WSL champions could narrow the gap to six points on Sunday with a win over Everton. Arsenal, who also remain in contention for the title, may also now have a renewed sense of optimism with three games in hand.