Republic of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson made the first European start of his career as Brighton secured a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Joao Pedro's second-half penalty earned an unconvincing 1-0 victory away to 10-man AEK Athens.
In-form forward Pedro converted his fifth goal of the competition in the 55th minute to guarantee the Seagulls a top-two finish in Group B.
Albion were second best before the VAR-awarded spot-kick and fortunate not to fall behind in the closing stages of the first half when AEK forward Steven Zuber struck a post.
The lively hosts were forced to play the final 25 minutes a man down following Mijat Gacinovic's dismissal for a second yellow card.
Roberto De Zerbi's men will vie for first place in the pool - and automatic qualification for the last 16 - when Marseille visit the Amex Stadium in the final round of fixtures in two weeks' time.
Brighton's maiden European campaign was launched with an underwhelming 3-2 defeat to the Greek champions in September.
Yet the Premier League club arrived at the AEK Arena in control of their own destiny thanks to a battling comeback draw in Marseille and back-to-back wins over Ajax.
Head coach De Zerbi made four changes from Saturday's 3-2 success at Nottingham Forest, including recalling match-winner Pedro, and saw his injury-hit side start in the ascendancy.
Ferguson was twice blocked as he threatened inside two minutes, while AEK defender Domagoj Vida came close to a calamitous own goal with a firm back pass which had goalkeeper Cican Stankovic scampering across his line.
But the disjointed Seagulls faded from the encouraging start and were in regular danger of falling behind.
AEK forward Zuber forced Albion keeper Bart Verbruggen to turn over a powerful drive before heading narrowly wide from the resultant corner.
Brighton were then lucky not to concede just before the break amid relentless home pressure.
Switzerland international Zuber worked space inside the 18-yard box with quick feet before seeing his angled drive deflect off Lewis Dunk and rattle the left post, with Gacinovic unable to head home the rebound.
Verbruggen was forced to save from Gacinovic after the restart before Brighton snatched the lead against the run of play during a pivotal spell in the contest.
Swiss referee Sandro Scharer initially waved play on when Pedro went to ground under pressure from AEK captain Damian Szymanski before pointing to the spot after viewing a replay of the incident on the pitch-side monitor.
Brazilian forward Pedro duly dispatched his sixth penalty of the season - and third against AEK - by sending Stankovic the wrong way from 12 yards to back up his weekend brace at Forest as a substitute.
Brighton had barely threatened before the opener and their cause was further strengthened just 10 minutes later when Serbia midfielder Gacinovic over-ran the ball and raked his studs into Joel Veltman to receive a second booking.
Seagulls striker Ferguson, whose three previous Europa League appearances this season came as a substitute, threatened to double the lead before being repelled as he tried to round Stankovic having been sent clear.
AEK midfielder Orbelin Pineda then flashed wide as the home side pushed for a leveller but Brighton, despite an uninspiring display, held on relatively comfortably to ensure their European adventure continues.
West Ham also both booked their place in the knockout stage after the in-form Tomas Soucek struck yet another late goal, getting an 89th minute winner to beat Backa Topola 1-0.
The Hammers 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.
Liverpool joined their fellow Premier League clubs in booking their place in the knockout stages with a 4-0 rout of LASK.
With Toulouse and Union Saint-Gilloise playing out a 0-0 draw in the group's other fixture, Jurgen Klopp's side confirmed themselves as Group E winners with a game to spare, avoiding the threat of a round of 32 play-off in February.
Early goals from Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo were followed by a second-half Mohamed Salah penalty - his 199th goal for the club - before Gakpo added his second of the night in stoppage time.
Rangers missed a chance to secure their progress as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Aris Limassol, needing teenager Ross McCausland's first goal for the club to salvage a point that leaves them with work to do away to Group C leaders Real Betis in the final fixture.
Rangers sit second, one point behind Betis and one above Sparta Prague, who earlier beat the Spaniards 1-0 courtesy of Lukas Haraslin's curling strike in the 54th minute.
Jose Mourinho's Roma limped through as they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Servette, with Romelu Lukaku's early goal cancelled out by Chris Bedia in the second half.
That means Slavia Prague will go into the final fixtures two points clear at the top of Group G after Muhamed Tijani's penalty five minutes into stoppage time earned a 3-2 win away to Sheriff Tiraspol.
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.
Villarreal will follow Rennes out of Group F as they held off a second-half comeback from Panathinaikos to win 3-2.
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.
The other group game saw Rakow Czestochowa win 1-0 away to Sturm Graz.
In Group H, Bayer Leverkusen wrapped up top spot with a 2-0 win away to whipping boys Hacken, while Molde and Qarabag remain level on points in the fight for second place after a 2-2 draw in Norway.
Full Europa League results and match details
In the Europa Conference League, Alex Moreno fired Aston Villa into the knockout stages after a 2-1 win over Legia Warsaw.
The defender's first goal, on his first appearance of the season following a hamstring injury, sent Unai Emery's side top of Group E.
Moussa Diaby opened the scoring before Ernest Muci seized on Boubacar Kamara's defensive gaffe to level.
Victory came after Legia fans clashed with police pre-match, launching missiles and injuring three officers to ensure there were no visiting supporters inside Villa Park.
Around 2,000 fans had gathered, despite Legia having a restricted allocation of 1,000 following supporters' behaviour in Alkmaar, and were barred from entering the stadium, sparking a row between the clubs with both issuing statements criticising each other.
Aberdeen fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with HJK in a game that was held up by a Helsinki snow storm.
The referee briefly stopped the game early in the second half because the travelling Dons fans were throwing snowballs, before a longer delay to allow several snow ploughs to clear the pitch.
Aberdeen were two goals down inside 33 minutes but a stunning strike from Angus MacDonald gave them a lifeline.
Duk levelled in the 56th minute before the 13-minute delay. There had been snow on the artificial pitch at the Bolt Arena from the start with an orange ball deployed and there was no let-up throughout amid temperatures of -5C.
Aberdeen finished the stronger team after the game restarted but could not convert several late chances.
Full Europa Conference League results and match details
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