Nadine Noordam struck the winner for Brighton in the last minute of injury time
Brighton & Hove Albion booked a place in their first-ever Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final in dramatic fashion after Nadine Noordam scored a last-minute winner to complete a remarkable comeback.
The Seagulls had found themselves 2-0 down after 22 minutes owing to goals from Denise O'Sullivan and Beata Olsson but an immediate reply from Manuela Vanegas brought the game back in reach.
And after Madison Haley restored parity shortly after the restart, it was late substitute Noordam who sent the travelling fans into rapture in the final minute of stoppage time with her first-ever goal for Brighton.
With a place at Wembley at stake, it was Brighton who had the best chance to open the scoring under the northwestern sunshine, but Jennifer Falk did just enough to keep out Fran Kirby’s deft strike in the fifth minute.
Three minutes later, the home side had a great opportunity to take the lead, but the unmarked O’Sullivan could not direct her attempted header goalwards after meeting Ceri Holland’s pinpoint cross.
However, O’Sullivan did not have to wait for long to get her name on the scoresheet as the 32-year-old made the required contact with Holland’s cross, after getting across her marker, to guide the ball past Chiamaka Nnadozie in the Brighton net.
The away side almost found themselves level on 17 minutes through what would have been a huge slice of luck.
Having kept out Kirby, Falk nearly gifted Maisie Symonds a goal after being closed down by the 23-year-old when attempting to clear, but the ball deflected off the Brighton skipper and out for a goal kick.
Holland then saw her strike rise over the bar for Gareth Taylor’s side a minute after Brighton failed to clear their lines, but the second goal followed soon after through Olsson.
The 25-year-old Swede, who was Taylor’s first signing, smashed the ball into the top right corner from inside the box as Brighton once again failed to get the ball clear.
Dario Vidosic’s outfit were in desperate need of a response, and they got one through Vanegas just 105 seconds after falling two goals behind.
The Colombian opportunistically poked the ball home after finding herself in the right place at the right time to reduce the deficit.
Both teams were committing bodies forward in search of further goals. It was Liverpool's Alejandra Bernabe who came the closest to registering the game’s fourth goal in the 40th minute but her swiped effort from the edge of the box hit the crossbar.
And Falk’s excellent save at the other end kept the score at 2-1 going into the break as she stuck out a foot to deny Kiko Seike who had opted not to square the ball.
Brighton came out from half time with a spring in their step and almost found parity three minutes into the second half through Kirby.
The 32-year-old met Symonds’ curling cross but saw her effort kept out by the upright after Charlize Rule had missed her attempted shot following good work from Haley in the build-up.
The comeback was completed in the 54th-minute however as Haley, positioned at the back post, nodded Seike’s lofted cross downwards into the Liverpool net.
That goal seemed to hand Brighton the momentum in the match as Seike, who was enjoying a dynamite second 45 minutes, flew into Liverpool’s penalty box, only to be kept out by Falk who cleverly closed down the angle.
Brighton continued to threaten the Liverpool goal and had chances to lead through Caitlin Hayes and Vanegas with 20 minutes left, but the former will have been disappointed to steer her header wide while the latter saw her strike deflected over the bar.
Liverpool found renewed energy late on, however, and almost won the contest through Aurelie Csillag, but she couldn't beat Nnadozie from a tight angle with Liverpool two on two.
The Brighton shot stopper was then called into action again with two minutes to go as she got an unlikely hand to Bernabe's shot.
With extra time looming, late substitute Noordam had the final say in a last-four classic in dramatic fashion for the visitors, pouncing from a free kick in the final minute of stoppage time.
Haley won the set-piece to the left of the box, which was floated in, and Liverpool could not avert the danger as the ball was cleared only as far as Noordam, who, on the edge of the box, made no mistake to fire into the net and send the Seagulls to their first-ever FA Cup Final.
