The late goal scored by Joao Pedro secured Brighton & Hove Albion a thrilling 1-0 victory over Olympique Marseille on Thursday, ultimately placing them at the top of Europa League Group B.
Although both teams were guaranteed a spot in the next round, Brighton needed to win to advance directly to the round of 16 as leaders.
Following the match, it was revealed that Marseille will move into the play-off round after finishing behind Brighton by two points.
Pedro’s game-winning shot, assisted by Pascal Gross, found the top left corner of the net just two minutes before the final whistle, eliciting an eruption of joy from the home crowd. With this goal, Pedro now boasts six goals in six games in the tournament.
Despite coming close to taking the lead with two shots hitting the woodwork early in each half, Marseille was ultimately unable to secure a victory.
In the other group fixture, Ajax emerged victorious with a 3-1 win against AEK Athens, allowing them to clinch third place and move into the Europa Conference League knockout play-offs.
Over in Group A, West Ham United secured the top spot with a 2-0 home victory against Freiburg, thanks to first-half goals from Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez.
Olympiakos wrapped up their campaign by securing third place with a 5-2 win at home against Serbian side Backa Topola, featuring a rapid-fire brace from Daniel Podence.
The dramatic Group C decider saw Rangers clinch the top spot with a 3-2 win over Real Betis, thanks to Kemar Roofe’s strike from a corner in the 78th minute. Real Betis will now proceed to the knockout play-offs of the Europa Conference League.
The winners of Group D emerged as Atalanta following a 4-0 victory at Rakow, with Luis Muriel scoring twice to maintain their unbeaten record in the group stage.
Sporting secured second place with a 3-0 home victory against Sturm Graz, and the Austrian side claimed the third spot in the group.
The draw for the knockout round play-off games, featuring the eight runners-up from the Europa League groups and the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage, will be made on Monday.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios, Angelica Medina and Tommy Lund; editing by Clare Fallon)
