Ayari goal gives Brighton first Etihad win as Manchester City lose two in a row

Brighton beat Manchester City 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 31 October 2026, Yasin Ayari's 11th-minute goal handing Enzo Maresca's side back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time under his management.

The result came one week after City lost at Aston Villa. Sky Sports reported that City had not suffered consecutive league defeats since August 2025, and the manner of this one will trouble Maresca as much as the scoreline.

The goal came from a City mistake. According to BBC Sport, Matheus Nunes miscued a clearance and the ball dropped to Ayari, who finished from close range. It was Ayari's third goal of the season, according to Brighton's match report.

Defence wins tight games

From there, Brighton dug in. Bart Verbruggen made seven saves and Iliman Ndiaye struck the crossbar for City, but the visitors held firm to record their first win at the Etihad Stadium.

Fabian Hürzeler made no attempt to dress it up as anything other than a defensive job. "We expected a game where we had to suffer, facing one of the best teams in the world," the Brighton manager said.

"We had to stick together and we had this feeling that defence wins today. Defence wins you tight games. We had a defensive mindset."

He added: "We faced a lot of adversity during the game and really proud of how my players kept a clean sheet with quality and a bit of luck."

The clean sheet was no one-off. According to Sky Sports, Brighton have six in the Premier League this season, the most in the competition at this point, and they have won five of their last six league matches without conceding in any of those victories. A side once known for how it attacked is now winning games on the strength of what it keeps out.

The win also carried a measure of payback. Four days earlier, City had knocked Brighton out of the Carabao Cup at the same ground, winning 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw, according to ESPN. The same outlet framed the league result as Brighton avenging that shoot-out defeat.

Maresca points to silly goals

Maresca felt his team had done enough to take something from the match. "We created enough to get some points but we didn't score," he said. "We did enough to deserve something. In this moment we need to move on."

He was more pointed about the way the goal was conceded. "Sometimes [mistakes] happen. Unfortunately it's happening for our players. We need to analyse and understand what we can do better. We are conceding silly goals; we can avoid that."