Late Pedro goal gives Brighton win over Marseille and top spot in Europa League group

BRIGHTON, England : Joao Pedro's late goal earned Brighton & Hove Albion a dramatic 1-0 win over Olympique Marseille on Thursday (Dec 14) to secure the hosts top spot in Europa League Group B.

Both sides went into the final matchday of the group stage assured of a place in the next round but Brighton needed all three points to progress to the round of 16 as leaders.

Marseille will go into the play-off rounds after finishing two points behind Brighton with 11.

Pedro scored two minutes from time from a Pascal Gross pass with a superb shot into the top left corner to send the home crowd into raptures. The Brazilian reached six goals in six games in the tournament.

Marseille had come close to taking the lead with two shots hitting the woodwork early in each half.

In the other group fixture, Ajax won 3-1 at AEK Athens to finish third and go into the Europa Conference League knockout play-offs.