LONDON -- Manchester City breezed past Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 in the FA Cup final to secure a first double in a decade to end fairytale season. It has been a season to remember for City, ending their 10-year wait for a Women's Super League title and matched their best season to date by doing another double -- they won the League Cup in 2016.
The hangover from winning the league had not carried over to City's first time back at Wembley in four years, with the players eager and ready to add to their trophy haul this season under Andrée Jeglertz -- only the second manager to win the league in their first season.
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They had to be patient to get their first goal, a header from Khadija Shaw -- celebrating a shiny new contract, one that makes her one of the highest-paid players in the world, sources said -- before the flood gates opened. Alex Greenwood added a second through a perfectly placed free kick before Aoba Fujino and Vivianne Miedema put the game to bed with two clean additions off the bench.
Once Shaw got going, the goals followed and really, City wouldn't be FA Cup finalists -- she scored twice in additional time against Chelsea in the semifinals to get City to Wembley -- or winners without her. It solidifies why City had to U-turn on their initial plan to let Shaw leave as a free agent.
It was never really their plan, sources said, but negotiations had stalled and a deal could not be reached with rivals Chelsea offering a longer contract and a £1 million salary baseline. City had hoped Shaw's desire to remain in Manchester would be enough, however as it looked increasingly likely that the Jamaica international would leave, internal and external pressure made City rethink their wage strategy and sources said that ultimately keeping their wage structure intact did not out weight the impact losing Shaw would have on their future.
Shaw scored 21 goals in this WSL campaign, part of her total 117 -- now 118 after the FA Cup final -- in her five-year spell at the club. The future without this looked far too bleak for City to bear and trebled their initial offer, sources said, matching Chelsea's offer and Shaw's expectation to retain the services of arguably the best striker in the game at present.
Brighton's lack of a striker and focal point in attack was made more obvious with how well Shaw manipulated the build-up to goals and turned chances into clear goal-scoring opportunities.
Brighton started well, and for the first 30 minutes were the better team. They had absorbed the pressure early and had done well to limit City's possession, suffocating their opponent whenever they did get on the ball.
This would've taken City by surprise, not expecting Brighton to come out so dominant and preventing the WSL champions from finding any sort of rhythm or fluidity. Marisa Olislagers was dropping into the back line to add depth to stop City from hitting them on the break, reducing their chances.
City hadn't settled when two key chances fell for Brighton after they bullied Yui Hasegawa off the ball, but Fran Kirby's first chance was well saved by Ayaka Yamashita with Kiko Seike sending her follow-up striker over the bar. But this is where Brighton's control ended and the first real chance City had, they took, with Shaw getting her head to Greenwood's cross -- the goal that opened the floodgates, and Brighton couldn't really recover.
Regardless of the result, it has been an impressive season for Brighton, especially considering the emotional undercurrent that has carried the second half of the season.
Manager Dario Vidošić stepped away due to personal reasons in January, later confirming the death of his father, Rado, following a short battle with cancer. The former A League coach had been managing in Australia for almost 20 years before joining his son in Brighton as head of women's and girl's coaching.
A tifo honouring the father and son duo was displayed by the Brighton end ahead of kickoff, with a picture of the pair and the words "Father, Coach, Mentor" above a sentimental line that read "We hope we made you proud." Vidošić returned to the team a month later amid a tough run of form, but galvanised the side in the wake of his father's passing, using the pain to fuel an impressive end to the season.
Brighton became only the third team to defeat Manchester City in the league, slightly shifting the door for the title race to open up, end knocking out Arsenal in the FA Cup semifinals to reach Wembley. The foundations are solid for Brighton and another strong season, and positive transfer window, will help ensure this becomes a norm for the promising team.
City now celebrate all they've accomplished, both the trophies and retention of Shaw. Both equally as important to the future of the club as they prepare for their first title defence in a decade next season and a brand new UEFA Women's Champions League campaign in which Jeglertz and the team will really be tested.
