Man City Women 3-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Women: Shaw double fires City to the top as they survive late scare

Manchester City Women made it six wins from six in the Women's Super League as they held off a spirited Brighton & Hove Albion fightback to win 3-2 at the Joie Stadium, maintaining their position at the summit of the table.

City flew out of the blocks and were three goals to the good inside the opening quarter of an hour. Khadija Shaw struck twice in the space of eleven minutes, first finishing from close range in the 5th minute after a Lauren Hemp cross, then heading home another Hemp delivery in the 16th minute. Niamh Charles added a third just a minute later, slotting home from the centre of the box to make it 3-0 and put the game seemingly out of sight early on.

Brighton, who had struggled for results coming into the game, refused to fold. Olivia Garcia pulled a goal back in the 31st minute with a close-range finish, and Caitlin Hayes headed in a Fran Kirby cross from a corner just six minutes later to make it 3-2 by half-time, setting up a nervy finish to the contest.

Despite the goalmouth action continuing to simmer, the second half passed without further scoring. City made changes as the game wore on, with Mary Fowler and Carlotta Wamser introduced for Grace Clinton and Niamh Charles around the hour mark, while there was a concerning moment when Shaw needed treatment for an injury on 64 minutes, causing a short delay before play resumed. Brighton rang the changes themselves, making four substitutions in search of an equaliser that never came.

The only card of the afternoon arrived deep into stoppage time, when Brighton's Manuela Vanegas was shown a yellow card in the fifth minute of added time as City saw out the remainder of the match.

City were dominant for large parts, finishing with 58.4% of possession and a commanding 17 shots to Brighton's 9, with eight of those on target compared to Brighton's three. The hosts also won eight corners to Brighton's one, though Brighton's goalkeeper did make five saves to keep the scoreline respectable. City's passing was crisp throughout, completing 525 of 588 attempted passes.

The win keeps City perfect after six league games, sitting top with 18 points from six wins, while Brighton remain down in 12th position having picked up just five points from their six matches, continuing a mixed run of form that has seen them string together draws, losses and wins in recent weeks.

It was far from City's most comfortable afternoon given how Brighton clawed their way back into contention, but the early blitz from Shaw and Charles ultimately proved enough to see out another three points and keep the perfect start to the season intact.

Written with the help of AI, using the match facts and the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.