Brighton vs. AEK Athens: Thrilling Debut Match Ends in Narrow 2-3 Defeat

Brighton suffered a narrow defeat in their first-ever Europa League match, losing 2-3 to AEK Athens at the Amex Stadium. The Seagulls leveled the score twice through Joao Pedro, who scored a brace on his European debut, but the Greek side fought back and scored the winning goal in the 84th minute.

AEK Athens started brightly and opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Djibril Sidibe scored an amazing diving header in the penalty spot. It was a great cross by E. Hajsafi.

However, Brighton responded quickly and pulled one back in the 30th minute when Joao Pedro scored the penalty goal. However, Athens did not stop and respond with another goal in the 40th minute of the match as Mijat Gacinovic scored an amazing goal, which L. Gracia assisted.

Athens was dealt with an injury blow in the 57th minute when their left-back Hajisafi had to be stretched out of the field, and Milad Mohammadi took his place. Soon Joao Pedro scored the 2nd penalty goal of the match to level the scoreline once again, but in the late 84th minute of the match, Ezequiel Ponce, who came out from the bench, scored the winner for Athens in their away game, which clearly sealed them the three points in the Europa League.

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi praised his team’s performance and said they were unlucky to lose.

We can learn, and we have to learn” We can improve but it’s difficult to accept this defeat. We showed not the right experience. Maybe not the same experience of AEK but for the rest we played with personality and the right attitude and controlled the game, dominated the game and we are sad for the result.
Roberto De Zerbi said after match

AEK Athens manager Massimo Carrera hailed his team’s character and said they deserved to win. He said: “It was a tough game. Brighton is a strong team, and they played well. But we showed our quality and spirit, never gave up, and scored some great goals. It’s a big result for us; we are happy and confident.”