Picture a late August Sunday at the AMEX Stadium. Erling Haaland has scored on his 100th English top-flight appearance. Manchester City are in front, comfortable enough. Then Fabian Hürzeler makes four substitutions at once. James Milner, 39 years old, walks on and coolly puts a penalty past his former club to level it. Minutes later, Brajan Gruda races onto a through ball and slots home in the 89th minute to complete a 2-1 Brighton win. That was August 31, 2025. It was not a fluke. It was the latest chapter of a rivalry that has changed quite significantly over the past few years.
A Century of Meetings: The Overall Picture
Brighton and Manchester City have faced each other 36 times across all competitions, with City leading the overall record with 21 wins to Brighton’s eight, and seven draws. On the surface, that looks like a comfortable City dominance. In recent seasons, though, Brighton have drawn level. The Seagulls have gone unbeaten in their last four encounters — winning two and drawing two.
The Early History (1924–1989)
The first meeting between these two clubs came in February 1924, when Manchester City won 5-1 at Brighton’s Goldstone Ground in the FA Cup third round, going on to reach the semi-finals that year. The scorer for Brighton that day was Wally Little, and City progressed comfortably. From the moment Jimmy Hopkins had a perfectly good goal disallowed inside three minutes, nothing went right for Brighton.
Fifty-five years passed before the two sides met again, this time in the old Division One. They faced each other regularly until 1989, with City winning seven and Brighton winning four of their 14 meetings across all competitions in that era.
The standout moment of that period came on January 8, 1983, when Brighton won 4-0 at home in the FA Cup fourth round — their biggest win over Man City to date. Manchester City manager John Bond was sacked in the aftermath. Brighton went on to reach the FA Cup final that season — the only time in the club’s history.
There was also a notable League Cup meeting in 2008-09, before Brighton’s promotion to the Premier League. City arrived at Brighton’s Withdean Stadium newly flush with Abu Dhabi money, having hammered Portsmouth 6-0 just four days earlier. After an enthralling 120 minutes ended 2-2, Brighton beat Manchester City 5-3 on penalties — one of the biggest shocks in the competition that season.
Brighton Return to the Premier League (2017–2020)
Brighton were promoted to the Premier League for the 2017-18 season, ending a 34-year absence from the top flight. They were immediately tested by a City side in the middle of one of the most dominant periods in English football. Pep Guardiola had arrived in 2016, and by 2018, his team had broken the Premier League points record with 100.
The first six meetings told a predictable story:
| Date | Fixture | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12, 2017 | Brighton 0–2 Man City | MNC Win | Premier League |
| May 9, 2018 | Man City 3–1 Brighton | MNC Win | Premier League |
| Sep 29, 2018 | Man City 2–0 Brighton | MNC Win | Premier League |
| Apr 6, 2019 | Man City 1–0 Brighton | MNC Win | FA Cup Semi-Final |
| May 12, 2019 | Brighton 1–4 Man City | MNC Win | Premier League |
| Aug 31, 2019 | Man City 4–0 Brighton | MNC Win | Premier League |
| Jul 11, 2020 | Brighton 0–5 Man City | MNC Win | Premier League |
City won all seven. Brighton scored just three goals across those matches and conceded 21. The July 2020 5-0 defeat was played behind closed doors during the COVID-19 restart — a miserable evening with no crowd to soften the blow. Brighton have conceded more Premier League goals against Manchester City than against any other opponent, failing to keep a single clean sheet in all 16 top-flight meetings between the clubs. The foundation for that record was laid during this period.
Brighton’s First Premier League Win Over City (May 2021)
The 2020-21 season changed things. Brighton, by now playing attractive, structured football under Graham Potter, had been quietly improving. City had already claimed the title by May 18, 2021, but Brighton still secured a 3-2 home win — their first Premier League victory against Manchester City. It ended a 17-match winless run against City in all competitions stretching back to 1983. Brighton’s supporters had waited 38 years for that moment in the top flight.
The fixture was swinging back and forth. On January 13, 2021 — earlier that same season — City had won 1-0 at the Etihad. By October 2021, they had put four past Brighton again in a 4-1 home win at the AMEX. But the tide had already begun to turn.
Season-by-Season Premier League Results: 2021–2026
| Date | Fixture | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 13, 2021 | Man City 1–0 Brighton | MNC Win | City controlled throughout |
| May 18, 2021 | Brighton 3–2 Man City | BHA Win | Brighton’s first PL win over City |
| Oct 23, 2021 | Brighton 1–4 Man City | MNC Win | City ran riot at AMEX |
| Apr 20, 2022 | Man City 3–0 Brighton | MNC Win | Comfortable Etihad victory |
| Oct 22, 2022 | Man City 3–1 Brighton | MNC Win | City asserted control |
| May 24, 2023 | Brighton 1–1 Man City | Draw | City en route to the title |
| Oct 21, 2023 | Man City 2–1 Brighton | MNC Win | Tight contest, City edged it |
| Apr 25, 2024 | Brighton 0–4 Man City | MNC Win | Haaland among the scorers |
| Nov 9, 2024 | Brighton 2–1 Man City | BHA Win | Hürzeler’s first big scalp |
| Mar 15, 2025 | Man City 2–2 Brighton | Draw | City dropped points at home |
| Aug 31, 2025 | Brighton 2–1 Man City | BHA Win | Milner, Gruda stun City |
| Jan 7, 2026 | Man City 1–1 Brighton | Draw | Mitoma cancels out Haaland’s pen |
The 2024–25 Season
Brighton came into 2024-25 under Fabian Hürzeler, who had taken over in the summer of 2024. The impact was immediate in this fixture. In November 2024, Hürzeler steered Brighton to a 2-1 comeback victory over Guardiola’s side at the AMEX. It was his first win over City as a manager and a sign of what Brighton were capable of playing against elite opposition.
The return fixture in March 2025 at the Etihad ended 2-2. City could only manage a draw with Brighton, dropping points in a blow to their hopes of European football the following season. Two meetings, zero wins for City — that had not happened in a single season against Brighton for as long as anyone could remember.
The 2025–26 Season
Brighton 2–1 Man City (August 31, 2025)
Erling Haaland gave City the lead before the break on his 100th English top-flight appearance. Hürzeler then made four substitutions around the hour mark, including bringing on James Milner and Brajan Gruda, which immediately shifted the momentum.
Milner converted a penalty in the 67th minute — his first goal for Brighton — at the age of 39 years and 239 days, making him the second-oldest scorer in Premier League history. Only Teddy Sheringham, who scored for West Ham against Portsmouth in December 2006 at 40 years and 268 days, has scored in the Premier League at an older age. Milner also became the oldest penalty scorer in Premier League history, and the first to score Premier League goals against goalkeepers born in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.
Gruda then raced onto a Mitoma through ball and rounded the goalkeeper to slot home in the 89th minute, completing a stunning comeback. It was only the seventh Premier League winning goal scored against Guardiola’s Manchester City in the 89th minute or later. City had lost two of their first three Premier League games of the season for the first time since 2004-05.
Man City 1–1 Brighton (January 7, 2026)
Manchester City dropped points for a third successive game as they were held to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad. Haaland converted a first-half penalty in the 41st minute before Kaoru Mitoma equalised in the 60th. Attendance was 51,728.
Milner, who had celebrated his 40th birthday three days before the match, became just the fifth outfield player in Premier League history to appear in the competition aged 40 or over. Brighton left the Etihad with a point, extending their unbeaten run against City to four matches.
Key Stats & Records
- Overall H2H (All Competitions): Man City 21 wins | Brighton 8 wins | Draws 7 | Total meetings: 36
- Recent Form (Last 6 Meetings): Man City 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses. Brighton 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses. Perfectly level — which is the most accurate representation of where this fixture stands today.
- Goals: Eight of the last nine head-to-head games produced three goals or more.
- Clean Sheets: Brighton have failed to keep a single clean sheet in all 16 Premier League meetings against Man City.
Top Scorers in This Fixture
| Player | Club | PL Goals | PL Apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Foden | Man City | 8 | 12 |
| Erling Haaland | Man City | 7 | 7 |
| Sergio Agüero | Man City | 5 | Multiple |
Phil Foden is the highest-scoring player in this fixture with eight Premier League goals in 12 appearances for City. Haaland is next with seven goals in seven league matches — exactly one per game. No Brighton player comes close to those tallies in this fixture, which reflects how one-sided the run of results was for much of the Premier League era.
What This Timeline Tells Us
The overall record — 21 wins to 8 — still belongs comfortably to Manchester City. But that headline figure masks a genuine shift in the last four years. Since November 2024, Brighton have not lost to City in four attempts, winning twice and drawing twice. Under Hürzeler, Brighton press with purpose, make bold changes at the right moments, and have shown repeatedly that they can take points off the very best teams in England.
For City, this fixture has become a measure of where they are as a team. In the peak Guardiola years, it was rarely a contest. Now it regularly is. A rivalry that began with a 5-1 thrashing in a 1924 FA Cup tie has, a century later, become one of the more genuinely competitive and entertaining recurring matches in the Premier League calendar.
