Brighton and West Ham In the Europa League, progress; Atalanta reaches the round of sixteen

On Thursday, West Ham defeated TSC Bačka Topola 1-0 and advanced to the Europa League knockout round thanks to another late goal from Tomáš Souček.

In the 89th minute in Serbia, the midfielder volleyed home the winning goal after meeting Maxwel Cornet’s cross at the far post.

In the Premier League on Saturday, Souček, who has scored in five consecutive games, stole a 2-1 victory for West Ham against Burnley with a stoppage-time goal.

West Ham and Freiburg, of Germany, who destroyed Olympiacos 5-0, are tied atop Group A. By the 36th minute, Michael Gregoritsch had scored three goals. Ritsu Doan and Kiliann Sildillia also socred. Each of the winners has twelve points.

The Hammers can win the group and avoid a two-leg playoff in February if they defeat Freiburg on December 14 in London with a single point.

Brighton defeated 10-man AEK 1-0 in Athens thanks to a penalty kick conversion by João Pedro, securing their place in the Group B playoffs.

Pedro scored his fifth goal of the season after being fouled in the area and sending goalie Cican Stankovic the wrong way. The 65th minute saw the dismissal of midfielder Mijat Gačinović for the hosts due to a second yellow card.

With one game remaining, Brighton established a temporary lead in the group with 10 points, two ahead of Marseille, who will visit Ajax later on Thursday. AEK holds third place with four points.

In Europe’s second-tier tournament, the eight group winners go directly to the round of 16, but a team that finishes in second place only advances to a playoff, where it will face teams who were eliminated from the Champions League as third-place finishers in their respective groups.

Despite a 1-1 home tie with Sporting Lisbon, Atalanta went straight to the round of 16. Gianluca Scamacca’s first goal was replied by Marcus, a replacement player. Group D was won by Atalanta with 11 points. At eight, Sporting comes in second.

In Group C, Sparta defeated Real Betis 1-0 in Prague thanks to a curling strike from the edge of the box in the second half, preserving the Czech team’s hopes of finishing in the top two.

After losing 3-0 to Rennes in the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Maccabi Haifa maintained their winless record and dropped to last place in Group F. Israel is prohibited from hosting UEFA-sanctioned games because of the conflict with Hamas.

The European Conference League.

In the third-tier league, Viktoria Plzeň is still the only club that has secured first place in its group so far. In Group C, the Czechs have won five out of five games after winning 1-0 at Ballkani.

Club Brugge led Group D with 13 points after thrashing Besiktas 5-0 in Turkey. Bodo/Glimt defeated Lugano 5-2, however they are now down by three.

Clubs that place first are guaranteed a place in the round of sixteen, while those who place second go into a Europa League playoff with third-place finishers.