Early Ayari goal gives Brighton a win at the Etihad

Brighton & Hove Albion won 1-0 at Manchester City on Saturday, and one early goal decided it. Yasin Ayari scored in the 11th minute at the Etihad Stadium, and Brighton did the rest of the work from there.

The match was a Matchweek 9 fixture. That is the ninth round of league games in the Premier League, England's top division, in the 2026/27 season. Brighton went into the weekend third in the table, according to Reuters.

It was the first time Brighton had won a league game away at City. For City, it was a second straight league defeat, and that is a harder thing to shrug off. Their manager, Enzo Maresca, said the loss felt similar to their defeat at Aston Villa, according to Manchester City's club website.

City had far more of the play than the scoreline suggests. They made 10 changes to their side for the match, and Erling Haaland, their main striker, was one of the players who started. They created plenty of chances. A defensive mistake was what cost them, and Brighton took their chance when it came.

For Geummin Lee, the result carried extra meaning. Lee used to play for City, so beating his old club was personal. Brighton's own website has him describing the win as a special moment.

Elsewhere on Halloween, Manchester United lost 2-0 at Chelsea. Reuters reported that the defeat stretched United's winless run to nine games. A winless run is simply a stretch of matches without a win, and nine is a long one for a club of United's size.

For Brighton, this is a result to build on. Ayari's goal was the moment the game turned their way, and in a league where a single mistake can cost a point, that is often enough. For City, the sense is one of frustration more than panic, with plenty of chances created and only the scoreline to show for the defeat.