Report and reaction as Albion lose 2-1 to Man City

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Substitute Charlie Rule scores a late goal but City maintain their impressive record against Albion with a 2-1 win.

Bruce Talbot

2025-03-30T16:00+00:00

Frustration for Nikita Parris after another chance went begging against City. 📷 Kyle Hemsley.

Manchester City ended Albion’s unbeaten home record in the WSL with a narrow victory at the Broadfield Stadium.

Goals from Kerstin Casparij and substitute Vivianne Miedema were the difference and the fact it was City who inflicted Albion’s first home loss wasn’t much of a surprise. They have now won on all six league visits to Sussex scoring 27 goals and conceding just four.

The fourth came in stoppage time when Charlie Rule, who had come on to make her first WSL appearance since December 2023, turned to fire the loose ball into the corner after City failed to clear. Albion pushed in stoppage time for an equaliser and Kiko Seike had a late chance to level which went wide but City hung on.

Marit Auee made her first WSL start for Albion against City. 📷 Kyle Hemsley.

If there was ever a chance to improve on Albion’s poor record against City this was it. Injury-hit, they arrived just 72 hours after going out of the Champions League but showed their reslience for long spells, especially in the second half. Albion got themselves into a lot of promising positions but their final action too often lacked quality and City keeper Khiara Keating wasn’t tested enough given the amount of possession Dario Vidosic’s side had.

City led at the break thanks to a well-taken goal by Casperij but Albion had their chances in the first half.

Fran Kirby wins back possession and launches an attack. 📷 Kyle Hemsley.

Seike drew a fine save from Keating when she let fly from an angle on the right. The corner dropped at the feet of Michelle Agyemang, who had replaced the injured Madison Haley, but the Arsenal loanee scooped the ball over the bar.

Nikita Parris, Poppy Pattinson and Guro Bergsvand all went close but City were clinical when their opportunity came on 37 minutes. Mary Fowler cut inside Bergsvand and her left-wing cross was fired home by Casperij from close range. Before the break City nearly added a second but Bergsvand’s deflection took Yuri Hasegawa’s shot wide.

Seike had Keating scrambling to make sure her right-foot chip from the edge of the box cleared the bar 11 minutes after the break but Albion were struggling to get Parris and Fran Kirby on the ball. With 25 minutes to go Dario Vidosic shook things up when Pauline Bremer and Jelena Cancovic came on.

Madison Haley battles for the ball with Gracie Prior before coming off with an injury. 📷 Kyle Hemsley.

The lively Bremer nearly made an immediate impact but Parris couldn’t guide the German’s cut-back on target.

City were still a threat on transition though and in the final minute Kerolin Nicoli picked out substitute Miedema, who thrashed her tenth goal of the season into the top corner. Albion weren’t done and Rule’s tidy finish into the bottom corner gave them hope but when Seike fired wide on the turn their last chance of grabbing a point disappeared.

Pauline Bremer shows her delight for Charlie Rule, who scored her first WSL goal. 📷 Kyle Hemsley.

The line-up

Loeck, Thorisdottir, Bergsvand (Hayes 45), Pattinson (Bremer 65), Auee (Rule 80), Sieke, Symonds, Noordam (Cancovic 65), Haley (Agyemang 20) Kirby, Parris.

Subs not used: Baggaley, Olislagers, Stefanovic, McLauchlan.

Dario Vidosic watches on as his side press in the second half. 📷 Kyle Hemsley.

Dario Vidosic's verdict...

"We probably lost our structure a bit in the first half and losing Mady [Haley] to injury didn’t help. It was quite scrappy and even for their goal I think we should have dealt with the situation a lot better. We were two v two and Casparij got in front to score – we didn’t deal with that well enough.

"We fixed things in the second half and were the better team. We forced a City side who like to dominate the ball to play on transition but unfortunately from one of those situations a class player like Viv [Miedema] only needs one chance and it’s in the top corner.

"It was probably a tale of two boxes. There are things to be positive about – we created a lot of chances and it feels like a game of small margins. They defended well but our final ball needed to be better.

"It was a nice moment for Charlie [Rule] because she’s had to go through a lot to get back on the pitch. She will benefit from those minutes and hopefully she can have a strong end to the season."