Brighton 1-0 Marseille: Pedro puts Albion top of Group of Death
To save time, I am beginning wonder whether it is worth writing and keeping a generic sentence about the greatest day in Albion history to copy and paste whenever the Seagulls play in Europe. Because here we are again. Brighton 1-0 Marseille. Another night in the Europa League. Another night nobody is going to forget in a hurry.
For 88 minutes, it looked like the visitors for France were going to head back across the English Channel with the point they needed to top Group B.
With it, Marseille would have gone straight into March’s round of 16. Brighton would have been left in February’s playoffs, where the draw would have undoubtedly paired the Albion with Galatasaray just so Wilfried Zaha could end this European adventure.
But then Joao Pedro did what Joao Pedro does – namely, scoring in Europe. Mr Thursday Night picked out the top corner of the Marseille goal with just two minutes of the 90 remaining to give Brighton a 1-0 victory and first place in the group.
It was perfectly timed in so many ways. Scoring that late in the day meant Marseille’s desperate attempts at time wasting came back to haunt them.
Seconds before the ball hit the back of the net and the away support had let off some flares to celebrate what they thought was going to be the draw they had come for.
Instead, smoke billowed from both the South and North Stands of the Amex, with someone in the Albion section lighting a blue flare to mark the winning goal.
What will be interesting is how the club deal with that. They surely cannot slap a ban on the perpetrator (as would normally be the case) having presumably given permission for Marseille supporters to bring in massive flag poles and a megaphone.
Security then proved so lax going into the away section that enough weed to keep the economy of Morocco going for a decade was smoked, not to mention all those flares.
Not that we are complaining about the pyro. They make for a proper European night and very much add to the atmosphere. Goodness knows the Amex needs that.
No, any complaints would be over the double standards. Brenda from Seaford cannot take a bottle top or a homemade jam sandwich into the stadium without receiving a 10 year banning order and being required to write a 10,000 word letter of apology.
Yet here were Marseille fans getting stoned off the their heads and putting on a fireworks display as if it were Bastille Day.
The smoking was not restricted to Marseille fans, either. One fantastic tweet showed a commentator casually puffing on a cigarette in the middle of the game. Say what you like about the French, but you have to admire their never-giving-a-toss attitude.
And in the French commentary box 😄 🚬 pic.twitter.com/vsltaqqFl8
— Vicki ✈️ 🇪🇺 (@ThickBlueLine) December 14, 2023
“I lost my voice, I lost everything,” Roberto De Zerbi said after Brighton 1-0 Marseille. He was not the only one. Many minds were lost when Pedro struck, the celebration and the noise being on a par with that 98th minute penalty scored by Alexis Mac Allister in Brighton 1-0 Manchester United back in May.
The outpouring at the goal was in part pride of where the Albion have come from. At half time in the away fixture against Marseille, the Seagulls trailed 2-0 having lost their opening Europa League game 3-2 against AEK Athens.
Brighton looked overawed and inexperienced on the European stage. Even finishing third and dropping into the Europa Conference appeared a tall order.
But since that second half at Stade Velodrome, the Albion have been unbeatable in the Europa League. To top the toughest group in the competition featuring two former Champions League winners and the team who completed a league and cup double in Greece last season is no mean feat.
The other reason Pedro striking was met with such jubilation was because it came almost out of the blue. In a game of only two corners and five shots on target, the visitors had the better opportunities.
Twice Marseille rattled the woodwork. Jonathan Clauss saw an effort balloon off Pascal Gross and onto the bar with Jason Steele beaten.
There was then nearly a repeat of the infamous David Stockdale incident away at Norwich City, Amine Harit striking a post with the rebound nearly diverted into the goal via the back of Steele.
Brighton had little more than half chances before Pedro provided the winner. The Brazilian saw an acrobatic first half volley blocked and then did well to create space for himself to hit a low drive comfortably saved by Pau Lopez.
The second half saw Simon Adingra produce a useful finish for a rugby drop goal when firing miles too high from a good position.
Evan Ferguson then drove a powerful effort which may have brushed the gloves of Lopez on its way over the bar.
It looked like pace would be needed to find a way through the mass ranks of orange and black shirts as the game wore on – and can we just take a minute to praise the sensational kit of Marseille, easily one of the best ever seen at the Amex.
De Zerbi responded by throwing on from the bench two players well known for speed, namely James Milner and Adam Lallana.
Hey, what do we know? There is a reason De Zerbi is a highly paid football manager and your correspondent is sat here with a raging hangover caused by the pour your own Moretti machines in the West Stand.
What actually provided the breakthrough was guile and patience. Jan Paul van Hecke found the outstanding Billy Gilmour. Gilmour worked the ball to Lallana, who totally justified his introduction with a pass around the corner to Pascal Gross.
From there, Der Kaiser swept possession perfectly into the path of Pedro. Two touches, a swivel of the hips and a vicious left footed strike later and the ball was flying into the top corner to make it Brighton 1-0 Marseille.
Pedro tore off towards the East Stand as a cloud of smoke enveloped the Amex. The Marseille support were stunned into momentary silence. The Amex was on its feet, a belated cauldron of noise just as Lewis Dunk had requested beforehand.
These European nights are a bit special, aren’t they? Roll on March.
