Brighton and West Ham have both booked their places in the knockout stages of the Europa League with wins over AEK Athens and Backa Topola respectively. European new boys Brighton will continue their adventure into next year after Joao Pedro's 55th minute penalty earned a 1-0 win over Athens in Greece, despite Albion being second best for much of Thursday night. Pedro stepped up after VAR judged he was fouled by Damian Szymanski, and Athens were reduced to 10 men in the 65th minute when Mijat Gacinovic earned a second yellow card. The Hammers are also through after the in-form Tomas Soucek struck yet another late goal, getting an 89th minute winner to beat Backa Topola 1-0. West Ham will go head-to-head with Freiburg in two weeks to decide who tops Group A after the Germans thrashed Olympiacos 5-0 as Michael Gregoritsch scored a first-half hat-trick. Sparta Prague kept the pressure on Rangers in Group C with a 1-0 win over group leaders Real Betis, courtesy of Lukas Haraslin's curling strike in the 54th minute. Atalanta were confirmed as Group D winners with a 1-1 draw against second-placed Sporting, who levelled through Marcus Edwards early in the second half after Gianluca Scamacca had put Atalanta ahead. Rennes are also through to the knockout stages after a 3-0 away win over Maccabi Haifa in Budapest, with Martin Terrier, Amine Gouri and Fabian Rieder getting the goals. Australian Associated Press