A lorry shedding its load of vegetables on the M6 had caused travel chaos around Stoke, making it perfect conditions for seagulls. But those travelling from Brighton were almost the victims of a scavenger hunt, as the hosts fed off scraps to push their Premier League opponents all the way until the visitors’ quality shone through to earn a place in the next round.
João Pedro scored twice to remind everyone why he was deemed too good for the Championship, taking his Brighton tally to 15. He was clinical to convert fine crosses from teammates in front of a less than half full bet365 Stadium as the magic of the FA Cup was absent in the Potteries, even though semi-finalists from last season were in town.
Like any Brighton signing, João Pedro is being groomed to be sold on for profit. The forward has quickly become an integral part of the forward line after joining from Watford in the summer. “I love João Pedro,” Roberto De Zerbi said. “I know his potential. I know how he can become important for us. I would always like something more. For us, this level of performance is enough but I think he can reach a higher level. I would like him to start the game at the beginning, not in the second half or after 20 minutes. For Brighton his performance is enough but to play at a higher level, he has to play for 90 minutes, not 70.”
The Brazilian helped Brighton avoid a replay, giving them 16 days – including a trip to Dubai – to prepare for their next match, on 22 January against Wolves. De Zerbi said: “If you think how many games we have played since the beginning of this season, to reach the last 16 of the Europa League and to win today permits us to play three games less and it is an important thing for us.”
Brighton cruised through the opening quarter of an hour but Stoke threatened an upset when João Pedro fell asleep and failed to collect a simple pass from Lewis Dunk out of defence. Ki-Jana Hoever nipped in and slipped the ball to Bae Jun-ho, whose low cross was comically turned into his own net by Jan Paul van Hecke, unaware he was under limited pressure, as he failed to coordinate his feet when facing the wrong way.
Pervis Estupiñán is another South American catching the eyes of those with deeper pockets than Brighton as most will not be able to afford his exquisite left foot. He rifled his second stunning goal in three matches in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time to bring much-needed momentum going into the break.
After the equaliser, it seemed inevitable that Brighton would charge to victory. A smart corner allowed Pascal Gross the space to chip the ball to the back post where Dunk overpowered Luke McNally to head home in front of the 3,381 away supporters, who could start to justify the more than 200-mile journey from the south coast.
Dunk could not stay out of the action as he committed handball when a McNally header from half a yard away caught his arm. After some internal wrangling, Lewis Baker stepped up and thrashed the ball into the bottom corner to bring some jeopardy back to proceedings.
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Gross got the charge back on track with another superb cross, this time from the right, to pick out the onrushing João Pedro to head into the corner. Alongside his Brazilian colleague, the German Gross provided the moments of quality often lacking in the match to make the difference and inflict a first defeat on the new Stoke manager, Steven Schumacher.
Van Hecke strode forward to make amends for his own goal with a typical Brighton piece of football as he ran from central defence to latch on to a pass in the final third and square for João Pedro to slide home. It is the first time a Brighton player has scored 15 in a season since Glenn Murray in 2018-19, giving the Seagulls the consistent striker they have often lacked, although his manager is ready to challenge him for more as they aim for a Wembley return.
