João Pedro and Brighton put their foot down to avoid FA Cup shock at Stoke

A lorry shedding its load of vegetables on the M6 had caused travel chaos around Stoke, making it perfect conditions for the travelling Seagulls but they were almost the victim of a scavenger hunt as the hosts fed off scraps to push Brighton all the way until their quality shone through to earn a place in the next round of the FA Cup.

Brighton cruised through the opening quarter of an hour, dominating possession and ensuring the sparsely populated bet365 Stadium remained eerily quiet, although with swathes of red seats cordoned off because of a lack of interest in the fixture, it was of little surprise. The ball pinged around as the Seagulls looked to open up Stoke but without the cutting edge expected of a Premier League side.

Instead Stoke showed dynamism when João Pedro fell asleep and failed to collect a simple pass from Lewis Dunk out of defence. Ki-Jana Hoever nipped in, slipped it to Bae Jun-ho, whose low cross was comically turned into his own net by Jan Paul van Hecke, unaware he was under limited pressure, as he failed to coordinate his feet when facing the wrong way.

Roberto De Zerbi selected a strong lineup that would challenge any Premier League opponent but Brighton played the first half at three-quarter pace. The ideas were there but they could not find the speed necessary to truly trouble Stoke. Steven Schumacher has clearly made his new side more organised, which explains the three draws and one win in his four league matches in charge.

Schumacher began his personnel changes by signing goalkeeper Daniel Iversen on loan from Leicester on Friday. Iversen had not played a minute all season but made a superb save to repel a Dunk header bouncing towards the bottom corner. The Dane, nor any goalkeeper, could have done much to stop Pervis Espuniñán rifle the ball home from 20 yards in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time. It was the second stunning strike from the Ecuadorian in three games after his rocket against Tottenham.

After the equaliser, it seemed inevitable that Brighton would charge to victory. A smart corner kick allowed Pascal Gross the space to chip the ball to the back post where Dunk overpowered Luke McNally to head home in front of the 3,381 away supporters, who could start to justify the more than 200-mile journey from the south coast.

Dunk could not stay out of the action as he was adjudged to have committed handball when a McNally header from half-a-yard away caught his arm and Paul Tierney was eager to show he did not need VAR to make a serious decision, pointing immediately to the spot. After some internal wrangling, Lewis Baker stepped up and thrashed the ball into the bottom corner.

Gross got the charge to the fourth round back on track with another superb cross, this time from the right, to pick out the onrushing João Pedro to end down and into the corner. The German providing the moments of quality often lacking for Brighton as Stoke struggled to cope with the standard of his delivery. Brighton play fantastic football but they also know the importance of a good cross and header.

There was still time for Van Hecke to make amends for his early own goal with a typical Brighton piece of football as he ran from central defence to latch onto a pass in the final third and square for João Pedro to slide home from almost the same spot as the defender’s earlier misdemeanour.

Avoiding a replay was imperative for Brighton as they have 16 days to prepare for their next match on 22 January against Wolves. It has been a hectic start to the season with European football and more than a fortnight without a match will be welcomed.