Brighton and Hove Albion beat Manchester City 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 31 October 2026, with Yasin Ayari scoring in the 11th minute. The club says it is Albion's first win at the Etihad, and it lifts them to third in the Premier League, two points behind City.
It came days after a midweek Carabao Cup defeat on the same ground, and before a Thursday night trip to Getafe in the Conference League. This is what happened, what the club said afterwards and what comes next.
How Albion won at the Etihad
Ayari scored after 11 minutes, and Albion then spent most of the afternoon defending. The Premier League match data shows how one-sided the possession was: City had 61% of the ball, 19 shots to Albion's 7 and 8 corners to 2. Six of City's shots were on target and none got past Bart Verbruggen, who kept the clean sheet.
Albion picked up three yellow cards, City none. The club's own match reaction says Albion had chances to score a second, with head coach Fabian Hurzeler singling out Maxim De Cuyper.
What Hurzeler and the players said
In his reaction on the club website, Hurzeler said the win was built on belief that his players could beat one of the best teams in the league. He accepted that Albion had some luck and less possession than he wanted, credited City's pressing and praised the goalkeeper and the team's togetherness.
He also thanked the 3,044 Albion supporters who made the trip to Manchester, their second visit to the Etihad that week.
Speaking to the club afterwards, as published in Dunk and Ayari on history-making victory, Pascal Gross said: "We finally did it." Lewis Dunk said it was not Albion's prettiest game but the players fought together, and Ayari said the squad is a big family who defended until the last second.
Where it leaves Albion in the Premier League
Albion are third in the table on 19 points after nine league games, with six wins, one draw and two defeats. They have scored 24 goals and conceded 7, and have six clean sheets so far.
That run includes a 3-0 home win over Arsenal, a 5-0 win at Coventry and the 5-0 home win over Crystal Palace on 18 October. The defeats came at Chelsea (4-3) and at Liverpool (2-0).
What is next for Albion
Albion travel to Getafe on Thursday 5 November for a Conference League game with an 8pm UK kick-off. Our guide to the Conference League opponents has the rest of Albion's European opponents.
Then it is back in the Premier League at home to Brentford on Sunday 8 November, kick-off 2pm UK time. Our fixtures guide lists every Albion date through to January 2027.
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