Brighton's £30m dynamo, Marseille tactic revealed ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea's transfer mistake

The competition's top scorer impressed throughout and took his goal in style just as it looked like the French side would finish top of Group B. The visitors hit the woodwork twice but Albion were worthy winners and avoided having to navigate the play-off round. Incidentally, here are a few talking points from an historic night in Sussex.

Money well spent

A few eyebrows may have been raised when Brighton signed Pedro from Watford for a club-record £30 million fee earlier this year, but the 22-year-old is proving to be another inspired purchase.

His goal against Marseille, which was dispatched in fine style after showing quick feet to set himself, was his sixth of the competition, making him the top scorer.

That was his 11th goal for Albion - five more than second top scorer Evan Ferguson. His strike rate is 0.72 goals per 90 minutes, but he is showing more than just goals. Against Marseille, the Brazilian drove confidently with the ball, beat defenders with relative ease, linked up with his teammates, and there were a few tricks thrown in for good measure. It is hard to say he is a bargain for £30m, but he sure is another excellent signing by the club - and there is probably more to come.

SEE ALSO 31 photos of action, crowd and celebration on another historic night at the Amex | Brighton player ratings vs Marseille: Two 9s as patient Albion seal top spot after late drama | Brighton's Billy Gilmour makes Arsenal admission after triumphant Europa League night

'Be the man'

Billy Gilmour spoke about stepping up to the plate and taking more responsibility in midfield following the transfer exits of Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister. They are some seriously big shoes to fill but it seems the Scottish international is coming into his own at present.

According to Albion Analytics, against Marseille, he completed 89/92 passes, made five ball recoveries, won 6/8 ground duels, won two fouls, and was involved in seven sequences leading to a shot.

Plus, in the space of a few seconds, he made a crucial tackle in the box and then pulled a sumptuous nutmeg to thrill the home crowd.

The challenge for him now is to keep these high performances up week after week. It's worth remembering Gilmour left Chelsea for Brighton for just £9m in 2022. With all of the Blues' troubles, and with Caicedo failing to fire at Stamford Bridge thus far, perhaps letting him go for that cheap was something of a transfer mistake...

Eyes on Arsenal

Mere minutes after beating Marseille, head coach Roberto De Zerbi told TNT Sports: "The message is Saturday, [training for] Arsenal. The second one is I congratulated [Simon] Adingra. He made a lot of mistakes but I love his attitude, his behaviour.

"The problem isn't making mistakes, it's after the mistakes if you try again. We are Brighton. We have to push, we have to try again if we make mistakes. I told them I'm really proud."

As De Zerbi said, Adingra did not put in a flawless performance against the Ligue 1 outfit but the winger was in the thick of the action once again on Thursday night.

The 21-year-old needs to work on his final ball delivery, his passes can be rushed, overhit, or imprecise - but his willingness to drive at the defence is admirable; plus, five goals and three assists in his debut season with the club is a handy haul.

Incidentally, a ploy that Brighton did, especially in the first half, was to have Pascal Gross fire a long, raking crossfield pass from the left-hand side of the pitch to the Ivorian into the box, where he either took the ball down or tried to flash a ball across the six-yard box. It was a fairly effective ploy and one Arsenal may have to look out for on Sunday at the Emirates. Brighton will need all their craft and guile to get a result there.