Manchester City Women Complete Domestic Double with 4-0 Win Over Brighton

After winning the WSL title, Sunday, 31st May saw Manchester City Women complete the domestic double by beating Brighton 4-0 at Wembley in the FA cup final.

Following an exciting semi-final against Chelsea, where they completed a 3-2 comeback after being 2-0 down in the 85th minute, yet City had a much more comfortable game against Brighton in the final, as they won their fourth FA cup title, and the first since 2020.

Despite this, City started the game off slowly in the first half hour, with Brighton having multiple chances to take an early lead. Goalkeeper Yamashita had to make some important saves, after close shots came from Fran Kirby and Marisa Olislagers. City then seemed to pick up the pace, as a clever Lauren Hemp move in the final third led to Alex Greenwood crossing it in, only for it to be headed in by the inevitable Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw. This marked Bunny’s 27th goal in 32 appearances, and confirmed her status as Manchester City’s Etihad Player of the Season.

This accolade was followed by her announcement at the City parade that she had signed a new contract, keeping her at the club until 2030. She had gained major interest from teams such as Chelsea, Barcelona, and multiple American clubs, so the news meant Cityzens could breathe a sigh of relief, knowing they would keep their star striker. Shaw stated,

I’ve always said that Manchester City feels like home – I’ve developed so much as a player and grown so much as a person during my first five years here… I’m so excited to see what we can do next season and beyond.”

As the WSL player of the year in the 25/26 season, Bunny Shaw has truly been the gamechanger in City’s squad this year. She made history by winning the golden boot 3 times in a row, despite being injured for the first two. The difference with her fully fit is stark in the City side as without her, City came 4th in 2024/25, and in the 23/24 season, her absence towards the end meant they lost the WSL
on goal difference to Chelsea.

Bunny was also involved in the 2nd goal for City in the FA Cup final, as she won a free kick on the outside of the box. This was coolly taken by Alex Greenwood, as she slotted it round the wall and into the bottom right corner, just before the halftime whistle blew.
City’s luck continued in the second half, as Bunny Shaw went on a lovely overlapping run, delivering it into the box, and after a clever dummy from Vivianne Miedema, substitute Aoba Fujino fired it past keeper’s left, just 5 minutes after she came on.

The final goal was a heartwarming moment, as Miedema started and finished a lovely move between her and fellow Dutch teammate Kerstin Casparij, heading it past Brighton’s Nnadozie, who just couldn’t keep it out. ”

This was Miedema’s first appearance for City since the start of May ”, as she missed the end of their title winning campaign due to her mother’s cancer treatment, so to top off her comeback with a goal was rewarding.

The FA cup win for city meant they had achieved their most successful season to date, in their first season with manager Andrée Jeglertz. He stated, “it’s an amazing end of the season, it’s been a long year… To keep on having this hunger and dedication to want more, that’ll be important for us in the future.” Next year, with the quality of players they have, as well as them being linked to many other players, such as Lionesses Niamh Charles and Beth Mead, they will be one to watch.