The Media Review AEK Athens (A)

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The papers report on Albion qualifying for the next stage of the Europa League.

Nick Szczepanik

2023-12-01T12:00:00Z

Captain. Leader. Legend.

The reporters who followed Albion to Athens for the Europa League match against AEK have all, at one time or another, written in glowing praise of Roberto De Zerbi’s men. But they were forced to admit that the result was more noteworthy than the performance at the OPAP Arena.

On The Mirror website, Neil McLeman wrote that “Brighton continued their European adventure on Thursday after Joao Pedro's 55th-minute penalty earned a 1-0 win over AEK Athens, despite Albion being second-best for much of the night.

“Pedro stepped up after VAR judged he was fouled by Damian Szymanski, and Athens were reduced to 10 men in the 65th minute when Mijat Gacinovic earned a second yellow card.”

Gregor Robertson of The Times agreed: “Brighton owe a debt of gratitude to VAR for their penalty, awarded ten minutes after the break against the run of play. But the win, which eliminates AEK and Ajax, means Roberto De Zerbi’s side will top group B with victory against Marseille at the Amex in two weeks’ time.

“Pedro turned the game in Brighton’s favour when he weaved his way into the penalty area and went to ground after a challenge by the retreating AEK midfielder Damian Szymanski.”

Ed Elliott wrote in The Guardian that “Brighton secured a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League after João Pedro’s second-half penalty earned an unconvincing victory against 10-man AEK Athens. The in-form forward hit his fifth goal of the competition in the 55th minute to guarantee the visitors a top-two finish in Group B.

“Brighton were second best before the VAR-awarded spot-kick and fortunate not to fall behind in the closing stages of the first half when the AEK forward Steven Zuber struck a post. The lively hosts were forced to play the final 25 minutes a man down after Mijat Gacinovic’s dismissal for a second yellow card.”

Two of this column’s regular writers found a common theme for their intros in the recent disagreement between the UK and Greek governments over the fate of historic artefacts presently in the care of the British Museum.

Jack Rosser of The Sun wrote that “Brighton pulled off the most blatant robbery in Athens since Lord Elgin slipped off with a few thousand tonnes of marble over 200 years ago.

“Joao Pedro’s penalty sent the Seagulls into the Europa League knockouts and secured a memorable smash-and-grab win over AEK Athens.

“If tensions between Britain and Greece were already high after the Elgin Marbles row flared up again this week, Brighton dumping the Greek champions out of the tournament will hardly have helped.

“The hosts, who beat Roberto De Zerbi’s side 3-2 in their Group B opener at The Amex, battered Brighton throughout a first half in which the Sussex side were clinging on for dear life.

“Somehow the injury-hit Seagulls got through the first 45 minutes without conceding and took full advantage of a sloppy challenge to take the lead ten minutes into the second half.

“The Greeks then lost their marbles once more and saw midfielder Mijat Gacinovic sent off shortly after falling behind.”

Matt Barlow of The Daily Mail had also been reading the news pages rather than just the sports section. “This one is unlikely to fester for the next 200 years but the Greeks will be tempted to file it away with the Elgin Marbles in the box of perceived injustices,” he wrote.

“Brighton won’t care though. They left Athens with three points from a game dominated for long periods by AEK and it is enough to extend their first Europa League campaign into the knock-out phase next year.

“Brighton, depleted by injuries, never seemed entirely at ease but they fought to defend their lead, with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and centre-halves Lewis Dunk and Igor Julio outstanding.”

On the BBC Sport website, Bobbie Jackson enjoyed the contribution of Albion’s scorer. “Brighton have been hailed for their dealings in the transfer market, both incoming and outgoing, since making their Premier League debut in 2017-18,” he wrote.

“They secured the services of Brazil international Pedro for just under £30m from Watford last summer and he has settled quickly under boss Roberto de Zerbi.

“After registering on his debut in a 4-1 win over Luton in the Premier League, Pedro has scored a further eight times to establish himself as the club's leading marksman.

“Pedro looked the calmest person inside OPAP Arena when he made his slow and stuttering run up to the penalty spot before stroking coolly into the bottom-right corner.

“The 22-year-old is the outright leading scorer in the Europa League, netting five times in as many games.

“While De Zerbi will be happy with Pedro's performance, the Italian is also likely to take just as much comfort from the fact his side came through the match with a clean sheet too.

“Prior to the trip to Greece, Brighton had only collected two clean sheets - both coming against Ajax in the Europa League - in 18 outings across all competitions.

“The Seagulls did have to dig in at times, with AEK creating the majority of the chances in the opening 45 minutes.

“But Brighton rode their luck to get in level at the break and it was a professional performance to see the game through once they got in front.”

Writing on the Sky Sports website, Sam Blitz thought that “it was Brighton who actually had the best chance of the game.

“The returning Kaoru Mitoma fed Evan Ferguson down the Brighton left and the forward shot as he entered the box, drawing a save from AEK goalkeeper Cican Stankovic, before Domagoj Vida kept out Ferguson's rebound with a superb block.”

He also noted that “Brighton's Jack Hinshelwood became the youngest English player to start a UEFA Europa League match since Jude Bellingham in February 2022 for Borussia Dortmund vs Rangers, with Bellingham in that game the exact same age as Hinshelwood (18 years, 233 days).”