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. Brighton will vie for first place in the pool– and automatic qualification for the last 16 – when Marseille visit the Amex Stadium in the final round of fixtures in two weeks’ time. Brighton’s maiden European campaign was launched with an underwhelming 3-2 defeat to the Greek champions in September. Yet the Premier League club arrived at the AEK Arena in control of their own destiny thanks to a battling draw in Marseille and back-to-back wins over Ajax. Roberto De Zerbi made four changes to his starting lineup from Saturday’s 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest, including recalling the match-winner, Pedro, and saw his injury-hit side start in the ascendancy. Evan Ferguson was twice blocked as he threatened inside two minutes, while the AEK defender Domagoj Vida came close to a calamitous own goal with a firm back pass that had the goalkeeper, Cican Stankovic, scampering across his line. But a disjointed Brighton faded from the encouraging start and were in regular danger of falling behind. The AEK forward Zuber forced Bart Verbruggen to turn over a powerful drive before heading narrowly wide from the resultant corner. Brighton were lucky not to concede just before the break after relentless home pressure. The Switzerland international Zuber worked space inside the area with quick feet before his angled drive deflected off Lewis Dunk and rattled the left post, with Gacinovic unable to head home the rebound. Verbruggen was forced to save from Gacinovic after the restart before Brighton snatched the lead against the run of play during a pivotal spell. The referee, Sandro Schärer, initially waved play on when Pedro went to ground under pressure from the AEK captain, Damian Szymanski, before pointing to the spot after viewing a replay of the incident on the pitchside monitor. The Brazilian forward Pedro duly dispatched his sixth penalty of the season – and third against AEK – by sending Stankovic the wrong way to back up his weekend double at Forest as a substitute. Brighton had barely threatened before the opener and their cause was further strengthened 10 minutes later when the Serbia midfielder Gacinovic over-ran the ball and raked his studs into Joël Veltman to receive a second booking. Ferguson threatened to double Brighton’s lead before being repelled as he tried to round Stankovic having been sent clear. The AEK midfielder Orbelin Pineda then flashed wide as the home side pushed for a leveller but Brighton, despite an uninspiring display, held on relatively comfortably to ensure their European adventure continues.