Brighton beat Manchester City as Ayari scores and Verbruggen keeps clean sheet

Brighton defeated Manchester City 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on October 31, 2026, with Yasin Ayari scoring the only goal and Bart Verbruggen making seven saves. The victory took Brighton to 19 points, two behind City.¹²³

Ayari’s goal separates the sides

Ayari’s winner came from a move following a free kick, according to the Guardian. Matheus Nunes failed to intercept Diego Gómez’s cross before Ayari scored. City subsequently pushed for an equaliser, but Brighton protected their lead through the remainder of the match.²

City finished with 21 attempts, their highest total without scoring in a home Premier League fixture since November 2024. Verbruggen’s seven saves included a second-half stop from Nunes, the BBC reported, as Brighton prevented City from turning their chances into a goal.¹²³

The Guardian reported two incidents involving Brighton defenders in which no infringement was awarded: a penalty appeal after Luka Vuskovic handled the ball, and a cross from Iliman Ndiaye that appeared to strike Lewis Dunk’s arm. Neither incident resulted in a penalty.²

Wins built on clean sheets

Brighton have now won five of their past six Premier League matches, without conceding in any of those victories. Their six clean sheets are the most in the competition this season. Sky Sports reported that their points total was a club record for this stage of a top-flight campaign.¹²³

The result was Brighton’s first victory at the Etihad, according to Sky Sports. The Guardian described it as their first away win over Manchester City in any competition in 18 attempts. Brighton had also lost a Carabao Cup penalty shootout against City before the league meeting.¹²³

Verbruggen credited the wider team rather than his saves alone. “It was a good game from all of us,” he told the BBC. Asked about a title challenge, the goalkeeper said Brighton would approach the campaign one match at a time rather than look ahead.¹

Managers assess the result

City suffered consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time under Enzo Maresca, Sky Sports reported. Maresca said his side had produced enough opportunities to take something from the match, while also identifying avoidable goals conceded as a problem.³

“We created enough to get some points but we didn't score,” Maresca said. Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler said his team had expected spells of difficulty and attributed the clean sheet to both quality and some luck. “Defence wins you tight games,” he said.³