Dario delighted with Albion fightback

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Head coach reflects on Saturday's 3-2 win over Manchester City.

Luke Nicoli

2026-04-25T15:25+01:00

Kiko Seike celebrates after putting Albion in front. 📷James Boardman

Dario Vidosic was delighted with his side’s reaction as they came from behind to record a famous 3-2 victory against champions-elect Manchester City.

The visitors took an early lead through in-form striker Kerolin and had the lion’s share of possession and chances in the opening half, only for the Seagulls to net an equaliser in first-half injury-time through Madison Haley.

Whatever was said in the dressing room at half-time clearly worked as the Seagulls stormed into a 3-1 second-half lead through Kiko Seike and a Haley header, as the American striker scored twice in a game for the first time in her career.

Kadija Shaw netted late on to set up a grandstand finish, but Vidosic’s side saw the game out to pick up a first-ever victory against City on home soil.

“It was certainly a tale of two halves,” said the Albion head coach. “The goal we conceded was very disappointing and we didn’t look anything like ourselves in the first half. We were doing things that we hadn’t worked on during the week, and maybe the players were trying to find their feet again after the international break, so we had to rectify a few things at half-time.

“To the girls’ credit we came out for the second half looking a completely different team. We played exactly like us, scored two more good goals and were much improved against the best team in the league.

Dario Vidosic watches on as his side come from behind to beat Manchester City.

“It was that reaction which pleased me most – I’m really proud of the girls because they executed it [the game plan] brilliantly. We could have managed the game a little better when we were 3-1 up, when they started to throw lots of numbers forward, with the full-backs and centre-backs coming into the high line and putting a real physical presence up there. There are lots to learn from that, but there are also a lot of positives to take, and for a young group to come through and withstand all that, I’m very, very happy.”

Vidosic was also delighted to see Haley return to goalscoring form. “She’s got that in her,” he added. “We try to put her in positions where she can be hurt the opposition and we targeted a few areas today where we were able to exploit that. We’re all delighted that she got her goals and was a deserved Player of the Match.”

With their tails up, Albion will now look for a fourth successive victory with a lunchtime trip to Manchester United next Saturday.

“The challenges don’t get any easier,” Vidosic said. “We now travel up to Manchester, where we’ve had good battles against them in the past, and it’s another chance for us to continue our good run of form. We need time to recover from today and to get out feet back on the ground – then we can look to attack it again next week.”