Chelsea through to last-16
Chelsea ........................... 2
Red Bull Salzburg ......... 1 LONDON – Chelsea secured their place in the Champions League knockout stages with a game to spare thanks to an impressive win at Red Bull Salzburg.
Stunning strikes from Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz in each half earned Chelsea the three points which sent them through and condemned Salzburg to a rare home defeat. The potential reward was a big one for Chelsea but it was matched by the size of their task.
Chelsea kicked off knowing they could not only qualify from Group E with a victory but secure top spot on the night too if the result in the later Group E game between Dinamo Zagreb and
AC Milan also went their way.
The slight problem was that Salzburg do not really do defeats on their own territory. Or at least they didn’t. They were on a 40-game unbeaten run at the Red Bull Arena, a sequence dating back to their previous home defeat in February 2021.
Intensity was the order of the day for Chelsea to try and unsettle the Austrian champions and they answered their manager’s call early on.
Recalled
Havertz, recalled as one of four changes, chased a lost cause after Potter’s former Brighton defender Bernardo failed to get enough on his attempted back header, and the German almost beat Salzburg’s keeper Philipp Kohn to the ball.
Conor Gallagher then hassled and harried on the edge of the hosts’ box and slipped through Aubameyang but his touch let him down.
Salzburg responded with a couple of corners that came to nothing and a Luka Sucic effort that comfortably cleared Kepa Arrizabalaga’s bar but Chelsea were the dominant side and were duly rewarded midway through the half.
Christian Pulisic and Havertz scrapped to keep a Chelsea attack alive, Maximilian Wober might have thought he had dealt with the danger when he got a foot in, but the ball ran to Kovacic, who swung his left foot at it and found the top corner.
It was the Croatian’s first goal since his wonder strike against Liverpool in January – not as spectacular but, ultimately, just as well-placed.
To much bemusement, Kovacic left the Stamford Bridge pitch in just his underwear following Saturday’s draw against Manchester United.