Andree Jeglertz watched Manchester City W.f.c. lose 3-2 to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, a defeat that probably cost his side the chance to be crowned champions next week.
City led early through Kerolin’s fifth-minute opener but Brighton struck back before half-time and finished the game with two goals from Madison Haley to complete a comeback. Aoba Fujino pulled City level during the second half and Khadija Shaw scored late but Brighton held on for a 3-2 win.
The scoreline underlines a pattern from the first half: City created multiple chances but failed to convert them, and those missed opportunities proved decisive. The loss was City’s third league defeat of the season and came in what was effectively their 20th league game of the campaign.
Jeglertz, whose debut season has produced 16 wins from his first 19 WSL games, did not read defeat as panic. He said he was not worried, that the team would learn from the outing and return focused for next week’s home game with Liverpool. “It is still in our hands. We will do everything we can to finish off with two wins,” he added.
The immediate arithmetic is stark: Manchester City need a maximum of five points from their final two matches — Liverpool at home next week and West Ham away on the final day — to secure the title. If they win both, Arsenal would be unable to stop them lifting their first league crown since 2016; if they slip, the title may not be decided until that last game.
Context sharpens the stakes. City began the 2024–25 season by winning 13 of their opening 14 WSL games and have been the benchmark in the title race, but Arsenal still have three games in hand and could heap pressure on City by winning all three. That possibility, combined with Saturday’s defeat, means the championship could be decided on the final day.
The tension from Saturday came down to margins. Jeglertz said his players dropped a couple of percentages at critical moments and were punished, and the scoreboard reflected that fine line: one early lead, one late recovery, and one failure to make earlier dominance count. Brighton’s Haley proved the difference with a brace, while City’s late response through Shaw came too late to change the result.
The practical consequence is simple: City remain favorites but no longer have the luxury of counting on others. Their path to the title is two wins or a win and a draw, and the fixture list gives them a direct opportunity to settle it themselves — Liverpool at the Etihad followed by a trip to West Ham on the final day.
Jeglertz has shown an ability to win consistently since taking charge, and that record matters now. But Saturday exposed a vulnerability: even a City side that has won 16 of 19 can be undone by missed chances and a single wobble. The coming fortnight will show whether that wobble was a warning or a decisive turning point, and whether Manchester City W.f.c. can finish the season the way they began it — by taking the title when the chance is theirs to take.
