Kiko Seike scored the decisive goal as Brighton & Hove Albion Women secured a 1-0 victory over Leicester City Women, deepening the hosts’ relegation worries in the Women’s Super League.
The breakthrough came early in the second half, condemning Leicester to a seventh consecutive league defeat and leaving them rooted to the bottom of the table.
Brighton dominated the first half, enjoying nearly 70% possession, but struggled to convert their control into goals.
Caitlin Hayes came closest before the break, forcing a sharp save from Janina Leitzig with a near-post header.
Despite their dominance, the Seagulls needed a moment of quality to break the deadlock - and it arrived shortly after the restart.
Fran Kirby provided the spark, delivering a perfectly weighted pass to Rosa Kafaji, who unselfishly squared the ball for Seike to finish into an empty net.
Kirby nearly added a second late on with a superb long-range effort, but Leitzig produced another excellent save to keep the scoreline respectable.
For Leicester, the defeat highlighted familiar issues in front of goal.
They managed just five shots throughout the match - none on target - underlining their ongoing attacking struggles.
Rick Passmoor’s side have now scored only twice in their last six matches, with the lowest shot accuracy and conversion rate in the league.
The result lifts Brighton into sixth place, while Leicester remain bottom, four points behind safety - albeit with a game in hand.
With only a handful of matches remaining, Leicester face an uphill battle to avoid the relegation play-off, and a significant improvement will be required if they are to turn their season around.
