Roberto De Zerbi has acknowledged that, like his Brighton team, he remains a work in progress as a manager. The Italian looked like he would be forced to settle for a place in the playoff round of the Europa League in their debut campaign after being frustrated in their attempts to overhaul Marseille at the top of their group by their canny opponents.
But a dramatic late strike from João Pedro with his sixth goal of the competition ensured they would advance directly to the last 16 at the expense of the French side. Having lost their first-ever European game against AEK Athens here back in September, qualifying as group winners represents quite a feat for a club that was playing in League One as recently as 2011.
Brighton’s supporters can now plan the next stage of their great adventure with absolute relish after this famous victory that was celebrated long into the Sussex night, particularly by their delighted manager.
“I lost my voice, I lost everything,” he said. “It was an amazing game. We are very happy, we are very proud, for the club, for Brighton, for our fans, for our players, for the people who work inside the club. This is the best moment in my time here.”
Brighton’s Europa League fortunes were transformed during the second half of their previous meeting with Marseille in the south of France back in October when they battled back from 2-0 down in the Stade Velodrome to earn a precious point. Four successive victories including impressive away wins in Amsterdam and Athens since then culminating in this dramatic late win over the 1993 European champions proved they certainly belong at this level.
Kaoru Mitoma and Simon Adingra sparkled on the flanks but it needed João Pedro – the Brazilian signed from Watford in the summer for a club record £30m – to provide the winning moment two minutes before full-time with an assured finish. “These are the best moments of my life,” he said afterwards – a sentiment that surely must be shared by many of Brighton’s fans.
Marseille arrived on the south coast unbeaten in this competition and having won their last four games. Central to their revival under Gennaro Gattuso has been a rejuvenated Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has followed up his hat-trick against Ajax at the end of last month with another four goals in Ligue 1 this month. But the former Arsenal and Chelsea striker saw João Pedro move ahead of him as outright top scorer in the Europa League after what turned out to be a fruitless evening for Gattuso’s side. “We lacked quality,” reflected the Marseille manager.
Wing-back Jonathan Clauss came closest to opening the scoring for the visitors in the first half when his effort deflected off Pascal Gross in the 15th minute and looped over the head of Jason Steele on to the underside of the crossbar before spinning away to safety. De Zerbi and Gattuso appear to have buried the hatchet after falling out during a fractious Serie C promotion playoff in 2016 when they were in charge of Foggia and Pisa respectively, although the Brighton manager was not happy with the number of stoppages during the first half as Marseille players repeatedly time-wasted and made his feelings known to the Spanish referee. His side’s best chance of the first half fell to João Pedro just before the break after a typically flowing move but his effort was tame.
The Brazil forward was not far away from converting Simon Adingra’s fizzing cross moments into the second half as Brighton noticeably stepped up the pace. The Ivory Coast winger then set up Billy Gilmour for a shot from distance that Pau López did well to smother.
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Gattuso turned to the former Sheffield United forward Iliman Ndiaye off the bench but Marseille found themselves pinned inside their own half as Brighton controlled possession. Otherwise impressive, Adingra slipped just at the crucial moment when he was set up by Mitoma’s mazy dribble and spooned his shot hopelessly over the crossbar. Marseille almost made him pay for his profligacy when Amine Harit’s effort cannoned back off the post after Steele was beaten, with the Brighton goalkeeper relieved to see the danger averted after the ball nearly fell into Aubameyang’s path via his heel.
De Zerbi decided to go for broke and threw on Evan Ferguson up front but it was Marseille who looked more likely to snatch the win when Ndiaye dragged his shot wide after a cross from Clauss. The Brighton manager’s agitation grew as his team failed to muster a chance of note with Marseille’s players successfully slowing down the game at every opportunity to the delight of their fans massed behind Steele’s goal. But their joy was short lived when a brilliant move involving most of Brighton’s players allowed João Pedro to send the home supporters into raptures.
