Bunny Shaw nets 19th but Manchester City fall 3-2 to Brighton, title party delayed

CRAWLEY, England (CMC) — Jamaica's Khadija "Bunny" Shaw was again on the scoresheet for Manchester City on Saturday, but her strike was not enough to spare the league leaders a 3-2 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Women's Super League (WSL).

The upset stalled City's push to lift their first WSL trophy in 10 years, though the title remains within reach if they collect maximum points from their last two fixtures.

A win on the road would have crowned the visitors as champions without further action, provided Arsenal failed to take all three points against Leicester City on Wednesday.

Manchester City came flying out the gate, with Kerolin breaking the deadlock in the fifth minute to put them ahead. Brighton hit back deep into first-half stoppage time when Madison Haley capped a slick passing sequence to level the contest at 1-1.

The hosts then flipped the script just two minutes after the restart. Kiko Seike latched onto a clever through pass from Fran Kirby and drilled the ball past the goalkeeper at the near post.

The Seagulls kept the pressure on a rattled City side, and Haley grabbed her second of the afternoon in the 65th minute, nodding home after Ayaka Yamashita could only push her first attempt back into play.

Shaw, who tops the WSL scoring charts, pulled one back in the 86th minute for her 19th league goal of the campaign to revive City's hopes, but Brighton held firm to record only their second league win over the Cityzens in 15 meetings.