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.
De Zerbi came into the game having lost another star man in Ansu Fati and with Tariq Lamptey also injured had to give a European debut to the excellent 18-year-old Jack Hinshelwood, starting out of position at left-back.
The early signs were good for Brighton and they should have taken an early lead here, with Evan Ferguson sent clean through after just two minutes.
His first effort was stopped at the near post before the rebound was deflected behind.
Having made a fast start, Brighton then had duck for cover as the thunderous noise grew in this corner of Athens and AEK’s Orbelin Pineda sparked a solo siege of Bart Verbruggen’s goal.
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In the space of four minutes, the Mexican midfielder whistled a volley just wide of the post from 25 yards, saw a header saved and a low strike just about parried by the Seagulls keeper.
Brighton survived and tried to regain control, but De Zerbi’s side were rushed and wasteful on the ball.
AEK had been the bullies in Sussex and wanted to do the same in their own back yard, pressing relentlessly and tackling hard.
The European debutants were struggling to cope with the aggression, and Pineda remained a constant menace, dragging a shot wide of the near post after driving into the box on 35 minutes.
That De Zerbi’s men made it to the break without conceding felt a minor miracle, with Steven Zuber smashing against the post before the rebound was headed over rather than into the open net by Gacinovic.
The Serbian was denied by Verbruggen just after the restart too, with the Dutchman stopping a powerful strike from the edge of the box.
Then Brighton’s moment finally came, though they had to wait even longer than they should have done with Swiss referee Sandro Scharer somehow missing Damian Szymanski’s blatant foul on Pedro in real time.
But the Seagulls eventually got their spot kick, and their penalty specialist stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to score his fifth goal in Europe this season – four of which have been from 12 yards.
Now the 1,600 Brighton fans could be heard above the din and their cheers grew louder when, ten minutes after the goal, Gacinovic was shown a second yellow card for a nasty challenge on Joel Veltman and given his marching orders.
AEK kept pushing despite being a man down, with Pineda flashing another effort across goal and wide of the far post.
Brighton dug in and held on for a historic win – one they will all be celebrating alongside Seagulls superfan Fatboy Slim, who had arranged a special gig in the Ancient city to mark the occasion.
Here is how the action from Opap Arena unfolded…
