Brighton avenged their midweek EFL Cup fourth-round loss to Manchester City, with Yasin Ayari's early goal securing a 1-0 win over the Premier League leaders at Etihad Stadium.

Ayari found the back of the net with Brighton's first meaningful attack of the game, beating Gianluigi Donnarumma from close range to take advantage of Matheus Nunes' error.

City, who have now lost back-to-back league games, pushed for an equaliser, with Iliman Ndiaye passing up several chances and Jeremy Doku seeing a last-gasp strike smothered by Bart Verbruggen as Brighton held on for the win.

Brighton's goal came from a quick Lewis Dunk free-kick 11 minutes in. Nunes missed his chance to clear Diego Gomez's squared cross, and Maxim De Cuyper was hovering behind to lay it off to Ayari, who swept into the bottom-right corner for his third league goal this term.

Ndiaye glanced a header wide of the far post and had City's only shot on target of the first half when he fired straight at Verbruggen.

Gomez forced a smart stop out of Donnarumma from a tight angle, while Dunk was on hand at the other end to block Erling Haaland's clearest opening before the break.

Brighton had a golden chance to double their lead just three minutes after the break when Ayari picked out an unmarked De Cuyper, but the Belgian met the bobbling cross first time and fired over the crossbar.

Ndiaye then had an arrowed shot tipped onto the woodwork by Verbruggen and Nunes almost made amends for his earlier mistake when he latched onto Rayan Cherki's throughball, but the Brighton goalkeeper got a strong hand to his curler.

Ndiaye again fired wide from a tight angle before Jack Hinshelwood dinked Brighton's chance to seal the victory into the side netting after being threaded through by Georginio Rutter.

Doku had the chance to snatch a point at the death, only for Verbruggen to stand tall and keep out the close-range poke and preserve his clean sheet.

THREE HUGE POINTS FOR THE ALBION! https://t.co/jQ7GwCKbT2

— Brighton & Hove Albion (@BHAFC) October 31, 2026

Brighton's stubborn defence frustrates Maresca's men

Fabian Hurzeler spoke about Brighton's need for "revenge" after their penalty-shootout defeat in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, with the sides fighting it out in a 2-2 draw.

Just like in that match, Brighton took the lead, but it is only the second time they have ever opened the scoring in a Premier League game against City, after May 2019 (a 4-1 loss).

It is also the first time since February last year that City have conceded first in consecutive top-flight matches, following their 2-1 loss to Aston Villa last weekend.

Brighton are the top scorers this term, and were not going to be kept quiet for long; Ayari has now scored two goals in his last three league games, more than in his previous 14 combined (one).

And De Cuyper – who will have been disappointed not to be on the scoresheet himself – already has as many Premier League goal involvements this season (five) as in 2025-26 (five in 30 games).

But Brighton also have a strong defensive record, and they halted City's 24-game scoring streak in the competition, despite facing 21 shots (six on target) worth 1.92 expected goals (xG). The Seagulls, by contrast, had seven attempts (three on target) worth 1.0 xG.

It was Brighton's sixth clean sheet of the Premier League campaign – more than any other side – and it moves them within two points of City, who remain top of the league on goal difference. They will now be looking over their shoulders, though, as they could slip to second if Arsenal avoid defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.