Noordam stuns Liverpool to send Brighton into Women’s FA Cup final

Deep in stoppage time, Dario Vidosic’s staff tried to ask him about plans for extra time, but the Brighton head coach had a feeling. “Just wait ... I feel like it’s coming here.” He was right. Nadine Noordam pounced on a loose ball in the box from a free-kick and completed a remarkable comeback to book Brighton a place at Wembley for the first time in their women’s team’s history.

The substitute’s 95th-minute winner helped Brighton fight back from 2-0 down to win a classic Women’s FA Cup semi-final 3-2 and leave Liverpool with a sense of despair, deja vu and heartbreak, as they were beaten by a stoppage-time winner in the semi-finals of this competition for the second season running.

It was a case of third time lucky for Brighton as this was their third semi-final in six seasons, after a 3-2 loss at Manchester United in 2023 and a 3-0 loss at Arsenal in 2021. They will face Manchester City on 31 May at Wembley.

It is a first final for Brighton and comes amid continued progress in Vidosic’s tenure but he does not want the focus to be on him. “I feel happy for the girls, the fans, the club,” he said. “It’s more a sense of joy for everyone else. When there are these moments, I don’t want attention to [go to] me, I want to give it to the players who deserve it, for the club for everything they provide for us, for the staff for everything they give up. It’s nice to see a lot of joy. It gives us now a fantastic chance to be the first team to bring silverware to the club.”

Brighton had arrived in St Helens in great form, enjoying a six-match unbeaten streak in all competitions beforehand, which had included wins over Arsenal – away in the quarter-finals – and Manchester City, as well as draws with Manchester United and Arsenal in the league, stretching back to a goalless draw with Liverpool in the league in March. This contest was far more entertaining.

Liverpool began the game with real purpose and deservedly opened the scoring in the 11th minute when an unmarked Ceri Holland whipped over a dangerous cross from the left and Denise O’Sullivan’s angled header found the far corner. They doubled their lead 11 minutes later when Brighton were punished for failing to clear the ball from their own penalty area and Beata Olsson ruthlessly capitalised, lashing in on the turn.

Brighton were let back into the game when some loose Liverpool defending at a corner allowed Manuela Vanegas to halve the deficit from close range and, from thereon, the away side dominated, especially in the second half, when they applied significant pressure. Fran Kirby’s near-post effort struck the woodwork moments after half-time. They eventually levelled when Kiko Seike’s hanging cross from the right was met at the far post by Madison Haley, who nodded in.

Aurélie Csillag then spurned a great chance for Liverpool at the other end but, in general, Brighton were dominating and their pressure finally told deep into stoppage time when Noordam fired in.

The joy of reaching the final comes in a poignant season for Brighton and Vidosic, whose father, Rado – who was working at the club as head of coaching for women and girls – died of cancer in January. It was an emotional victory, celebrated in front of their travelling supporters in the corner of the pitch, while Liverpool looked stunned.

Taylor, frustrated that defending from set pieces was his team’s “downfall at the end”, issued a warning after the game that “there are a lot of things we need to improve on at this club, on and off the pitch”.

“Brighton are now coming into a really good moment,” he said. “Spurs are obviously making a real push, London City are spending money – we just have to be really careful that we don’t get dragged away from that. We need to really stay current and make sure we’re still supporting the team to the max.”