João Pedro arrived at Brighton & Hove Albion as an unknown, a young promise who had stood out at Watford and who, perhaps, with a lot of luck, could score more than five goals in his first season with The Seagulls in a historic season in the that, for the first time in their history, they would participate in a continental competition.
However, since his emergence with Roberto de Zerbi, João Pedro has managed to earn a place in the Italian’s starting eleven and, especially in the UEFA Europa League, he has managed to stand out and this fifth round of the group stage was no exception.
READ MORE
++ Germán Cano reaches 40 goals for the second year in a row
++ Lucas Paquetá’s West Ham earns key UEL victory
++ With a goal from Priscila in stoppage time, Brazil beats Japan 4-3
João Pedro led Brighton to a historic qualification to the K.O. round. of the UEL
Brighton visited Athens with the intention of adding a key victory that would allow them to seal their place in the next round of the Europa League. Their rival, AEK Athens, did not come with a positive background in their last games in the UEL, but nervousness was present in De Zerbi’s team.
After trying again and again, the Brazilian striker decided to start a solo run down the right wing around the 52nd minute. After leaving two or three rivals, he was finally knocked down in the area and the referee decided to review the play, calling a penalty in favor of the visiting team.
Around 55′ the first goal of the game would arrive. The author? None more and none other than João Pedro, who was in charge of converting the maximum penalty, signing the final 0-1 against the Greek team. Finally, he left the field in the 82nd minute.
With this goal, João Pedro scored his ninth goal of the season, this being also his fifth goal in five games in the Europa League, thus demonstrating his impact on the team in the continental competition. With one more goal under his belt, João Pedro continues to show that he is a top forward and that he still has a lot to offer in this long season for the Seagulls.
