Rangers down Betis to make Europa League last 16, Brighton see off Marseille

PARIS: Kemar Roofe’s winner sent Rangers into the Europa League last 16 with a 3-2 victory at Real Betis on Thursday, while Joao Pedro’s late strike helped Brighton sink Marseille.

Rangers, runners-up in the competition two seasons ago, were heading out of the tournament and into the Europa Conference League with the game level 12 minutes from time and Sparta Prague on their way to a 3-1 victory at Aris.

But after a corner was twice not cleared, Roofe bundled the ball home from three yards out to fire Rangers from third to first in Group C.

The Scottish giants had twice led in the first half through Abdallah Sima and Cyriel Dessers, but Juan Miranda and Ayoze Perez both equalized for Betis.

Rangers held on in a frantic finale to inflict a first home defeat of the season on Betis, who had to settle for a Conference League play-off spot.

“(Playing in Europe) is special, it’s always been special during my time here,” Roofe told TNT Sports.

Brighton avoided a Europa League knockout round playoff in February with a tense 1-0 home win over Marseille in Group B.

Both teams had already secured top-two finishes, but the Seagulls needed a win to usurp OM at the top of the standings.

The Premier League side struggled to break down their visitors for long periods, but Pedro showed neat footwork in the box before drilling the ball into the top corner in the 88th minute to score his sixth goal in as many Europa League matches this season.

“I lost my voice, I lost everything. It was an amazing game. We played amazing football,” said Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi.

West Ham made it a clean sweep for British teams, finishing top of their group as Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez scored in a 2-0 win over Freiburg, who