LONDON: Cody Gakpo’s double fired Liverpool into the Europa League last 16 with a 4-0 home win over Austria’s LASK in Group ‘E’, while fellow Premier League sides Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United secured a top-two finish on Thursday.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool moved on to 12 points thanks to Gakpo’s brace and goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah at Anfield and will top the standings after second-placed Toulouse were held to a goalless draw at home by Union Saint Gilloise.

Europa League group winners go through to the last 16 automatically, while the runners-up play in a two-legged knockout round play-off in February against a team who finish third in a Champions League group.

“The most important thing is that we’re at the head of the group and that won’t change so that’s good,” Klopp said. “There was some good football but this game should have been put to bed before half-time. We didn’t do that, but it’s fantastic to win 4-0.”

Luis Diaz put Liverpool ahead after 12 minutes with a header from Joe Gomez’s cross and Gapko’s tap-in doubled the lead three minutes later.

Salah’s penalty made it 3-0 early in the second half and Dutch forward Gakpo capped the demolition with a fierce strike in stoppage-time.

Unlike Liverpool’s rich history in continental competition, Brighton are competing in Europe for the first time and the Seagulls’ adventure will continue into the New Year after Joao Pedro’s second-half penalty gave them a 1-0 win over 10-man AEK Athens in Greece.

Damian Szymanski fouled Joao Pedro in the 55th minute and the Brazilian striker picked himself up to slot home the penalty.

AEK’s fate was sealed when they were reduced to 10 men in the 85th minute when Mijat Gacinovic earned a second booking for a foul on Joel Veltman.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side are second in Group ‘B’, one point behind Olympique de Marseille following the French side’s dramatic 4-3 win over 10-man Ajax Amsterdam.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a hat-trick for Marseille, which included a stunning overhead kick and two penalties — one in stoppage time for the winner.

In the midst of a wretched season, Ajax had levelled three times, Brian Brobbey scoring twice, but they had Steven Berghuis sent off in the second half following a challenge on Joaquin Correa and were consigned to elimination by their late defeat.

“Who knows how far we can go?” Brighton captain Lewis Dunk said. “We want to win it and you’ve got to dream big to achieve it.”

West Ham moved into the knockout round after Tomas Soucek’s late goal goal saw off TSC Backa Topola 1-0 in Serbia.

Soucek struck one minute from time, evading his marker and volleying home a cross with his outstretched right leg. Defences dominated a dull game and the hosts had the better opportunities to break the deadlock until the closing stages.

West Ham lead the Group ‘A’ standings with 12 points, level with German side Freiburg who the English team host in the final round of matches on Dec 14.

Michael Gregoritsch’s hat-trick earned Freiburg a top-two spot as they thrashed visiting Olympiakos 5-0.

Villarreal also progressed to the knockout stages with a 3-2 win Panathinaikos in Group ‘F’ after the Greek side fought back from 3-0 down.

Stade Rennais moved top of that section with a 3-0 win over Maccabi Haifa in a game played at the Puskas Arena in Budapest because Israel is not allowed to host UEFA-sanctioned matches due to the war with Hamas.

Rangers drew 1-1 with Aris Limassol and the Scottish team remained in contention for a top-two spot in Group ‘C’ with seven points, one ahead of Sparta Prague who beat leaders Real Betis 1-0 courtesy of Lukas Haraslin’s curling strike in the 54th minute.

Bayern Leverkusen confirmed their place in the round of 16 as Group ‘H’ winners with a 2-0 win over BK Hacken. Qarabag and Molde are still looking to secure a playoff place as runners-up after their 2-2 draw.

Atalanta qualified for the round of 16 by securing top spot in Group ‘D’ with 11 points after a 1-1 draw against Sporting Lisbon who remained second with eight points. Sporting substitute Marcus answered Gianluca Scamacca’s opening goal.

The other group game saw Rakow Czestochowa win 1-0 away to Sturm Graz.

Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku scored for AS Roma but they failed to secure victory over Servette as Chris Bedia equalised for the Swiss side in a 1-1 draw in Group ‘G’.

Slavia Prague made notable progress towards claiming top spot in the group with a 3-2 win over Sheriff thanks to Muhamed Tijani’s stoppage-time penalty.

Roma and Slavia Prague will finish in the top two places in the group but Slavia have a two-point advantage heading into the final group games.

In the Europa Conference League, crowd troubled marred Aston Villa’s 2-1 win against Legia Warsaw as three police officers were injured in clashes with Polish fans.

The game was played with Legia supporters kept out of the stadium following the pre-match violence, which included flares and missiles being hurled at police.

Villa moved to the top of Group ‘E’ after Moussa Diaby and Álex Moreno had a goal each at Villa Park with Ernest Muçi netting for the visitors. Villa needed to win by two or more goals to clinch the top spot in the group.

Greece’s PAOK become another team to join Viktoria Plzen in the round of 16 as winners of Group ‘G’ with a 2-1 away win at Eintracht Frankfurt. The Czechs won 1-0 at Ballkani to make it five wins from five in Group ‘C’.

Club Brugge thumped Besiktas 5-0 in Turkey to lead Group ‘D’ with 13 points. Bodo/Glimt trail by three after a 5-2 win over Lugano.

A first-place finish earns a direct spot in the last 16, while finishing in second takes clubs into a playoff with third-place finishers in the Europa League.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2023