Brighton Women left Wembley on Sunday rueing early missed opportunities and knowing that, had one gone in, their FA Cup final clash with Manchester City may have panned out quite differently.
A dominant opening half an hour suggested a first major trophy could be clinched at Wembley, but Brighton’s failure to convert, mixed with the growing threat of City’s Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, saw the match soon taken away from the Seagulls’ grasp.
While the prolific striker didn’t quite get the purchase on her earlier strike, Shaw inevitably found her way on to the scoresheet as she rose highest to nod an Alex Greenwood cross past Brighton goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie in the 38th minute.
Left-back Greenwood then turned goalscorer on the stroke of half time, angling her free-kick past Brighton’s wall and into the bottom-right corner following a foul on Shaw from Seagulls skipper Maisie Symonds.
Brighton pose for a team photo prior to the Women's FA Cup final at Wembley (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)placeholder image
Brighton pose for a team photo prior to the Women's FA Cup final at Wembley (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
The Cityzens flexed their superior squad-depth in the second half to further punish a laboured Albion, with two quick transitions seeing substitutes Aoba Fujino and Vivianne Miedema convert from inside the 18-yard box.
While goalkeeper Nnadozie could have done more to parry away Miedema’s header with three minutes of normal time remaining, the Nigerian produced a vital stop to palm over a high and powerful strike from Shaw at the near post.
The closest the Seagulls came to a consolation was through forward Madison Haley, who fought tirelessly for the side throughout the contest. The American’s stoppage-time strike was denied by Ayaka Yamashita, before Haley failed to direct her 90+4th-minute header goalward.
While Brighton had showed signs of nerves when facing Manchester City at the Broadfield Stadium in late April, the Seagulls proved composed from the start at Wembley.
Brighton's Jelena Cankovic controls the ball while under pressure from Yui Hasegawa during Sunday's FA Cup final (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)placeholder image
Brighton's Jelena Cankovic controls the ball while under pressure from Yui Hasegawa during Sunday's FA Cup final (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
An intricate exchange between Marisa Olislagers and Kiko Seike just before the 20-minute mark saw the latter take aim at goal, with City’s defence reacting quickly to block the shot.
Left-back Manuela Vanegas later made a superb driving run but disappointingly opted to shoot rather than cross toward the onrushing Haley and Seike on the far-side of the box.
Fran Kirby also squandered a huge chance after Seike stole the ball from City’s Yui Hasegawa in the 27th minute, with the midfielder attempting to take the ball round Yamashita instead of shooting first-time.
The chance did remain alive as the ball fell to Seike, but the Japan winger sliced her half-volley well over the bar.
It had seemed that during their victories against Arsenal and Manchester City, Brighton had learned to be ruthless in front of goal, however, their lack of cutting edge from the first half of the campaign had again reared its head.
Additionally, when the Seagulls chased the game in the second half with Rosa Kafaji and Nadine Noordam among those to enter the pitch, it only led Brighton to be outpaced on the transition.
A ball in behind the Albion defence from Lauren Hemp allowed Shaw to drive past centre-back Caitlin Hayes before playing in Fujino. The City winger was gifted too much space to strike as she easily skipped past Symonds and Vanegas to score with almost 25 minutes remaining.
The same could be said for City’s fourth goal of the afternoon, with right-back Kerstin Casparij presented acres of space on the flank before she delivered a pinpoint cross on to the head of Miedema to conclude the victory.
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