Manchester City claim domestic double with victory over Brighton at Wembley
City secure first Women's FA Cup trophy since 2020 after 4-0 win in season finale
Manchester City secured their first-ever league and Women’s FA Cup double after beating Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 at Wembley.
Goals from Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, Alex Greenwood, Aoba Fujino and Vivianne Miedema transformed what was, at points, a very tight final into a City victory parade.
City headed into the final as WSL champions after claiming their first league title in a decade just a few weeks ago. They are now just the third side to claim the league and Women’s FA Cup double after Arsenal in 2011 and Chelsea on six occasions between 2015 and 2025.
Andrée Jeglertz’s side suffered a 3-2 defeat to Brighton in the final weeks of the WSL season, and there was an expectation that Brighton would not make things easy for the champions, even though they headed into the final as overwhelming underdogs.
City were under immense pressure in the opening 35 minutes thanks to an aggressive Brighton press that smothered City any time they tried to progress the ball. Brighton were quick on the break and successfully transformed turnovers into meaningful counterattacking opportunities. Fran Kirby, Kiko Seike and Maisie Symonds all had good chances to put Brighton in front within the first half an hour, with Kirby’s the most gilt-edged: a one-on-one with Ayaka Yamashita that she failed to make the most of.
As the game ticked on towards half-time, City grew into it and Lauren Hemp started to find space down the left-hand side. The deadlock was eventually broken in the 38th minute when Alex Greenwood sent a cross into Brighton’s box and Chiamaka Nnadozie failed to claim the ball, allowing a flying Shaw to head home.
City grabbed their second just before half-time, Greenwood scoring her first goal of the season with a whipped free-kick that went over the Brighton wall and into the bottom corner of Nnadozie’s goal.
That scoreline felt like a mountain to climb for Brighton in the second half and, for all their hard work in the first 45 minutes, they just could not create the same level of opportunities in the second period.
City substitutes Fujino and Miedema capped off the celebratory day when they bagged City’s third and fourth in the second half.
This trophy cements City’s status as the best team in England this season. Having waited 10 years to claim a second league title, marking this year with a domestic double elevates what has already been an impressive campaign. In the last few weeks, City have certainly not been at their best, with a dramatic 3-2 win in the Women’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, partly thanks to Chelsea’s collapse, and several nervous performances in the WSL creating a shaky end to the season. However, City’s relentless and aggressive approach to games this season has set the pace for what has been an unbelievable campaign.
With Shaw’s future now secured at the club until 2030, Jeglertz can plan for an exciting year ahead, as City return to the Women’s Champions League and look to defend their WSL title next season.