Chelsea boss Graham Potter started his tenure with the Blues in the Champions League, against RB Salzburg in London, and it didn’t go well, the game ended 1-1. But tonight, Chelsea did what they have should done more than a month ago – they defeated Salzburg in Austria and secured the knockout phase with a game to spare and they played great in the process. This was not ‘boring’ Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel, this was attacking, ‘all over the place’ Chelsea who created many great chances, who had more than 70% possession and made 10 shots on target. The only reason the game ended only 2-1 was the excellent home team keeper Philipp Kohn. 9 – Graham Potter is the second Englishman to go undefeated in his first nine games as Chelsea manager in all competitions after William Lewis in 1906/07. Spellbound. pic.twitter.com/OIBC36W7Cz— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 25, 2022 Graham Potter made four changes to the side that drew at home to Manchester United last time out. Mateo Kovacic and Conor Gallagher come into the midfield, while Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz are also handed starts and two of them scored (Kovacic and Havertz), while Pulisich had one assist. Chelsea scored only one goal in the first half, but they should have scored more. The Blues had a chance literally in the second minute, but keeper Kohn made a brave save in front of Havertz before he got a knock to the head. Salzbug’s keeper was also brave in the 30th minute, when he was left one on one with Aubameyang but saved. Minutes before that, he saved another attempt from the Blues striker. Chelsea were the better team, but their only goal came after a commotion in Leipzig’s penalty area, after which the ball came to Mateo Kovačić, who took a strike without the time to properly aim at the ball, but it still went perfectly in: 1-0.As soon as the second half started, the punishment for missed chances came when Wober made wonderful pass from around 25 meters right on the foot of Adamu, who equalized the game. Gallagher played for Aubameyang, but Kohn was there to save again. Finally, in the 53rd minute, Salzburg keeper was beaten, but Adamu came back to clear the ball off the line. But Chelsea kept plugging in, and eventually it was Havertz who blasted the ball from 20 meters to the top right corner for another lead. Chelsea kept the pressure until the very end and didn’t allow any surprises in their quest for the automatic qualification to the next round of the Champions League. CHAMPIONS LEAGUEGroup stage – Round 5TuesdaySalzburg – Chelsea 1-2 (1-1)/Adamu 48 – Kovacic 23, Havertz 64/Sevilla – Copenhagen 3-0 (0-0)/En-Nesyri 61, Isco 88, Montiel 90/22:00: (4.80) Dinamo Zagreb (3.60) Milan (1.85)22:00: (1.95) Celtic (3.60) Shakhtar (4.20)22:00: (2.95) RB Leipzig (3.40) Real Madrid (2.55)22:00: (5.60) Dortmund (4.10) Man.City (1.65)22:00: (2.10) Benfica (3.35) Juventus (3.60)22:00: (1.12) PSG (12.0) Maccabi Haifa (20.0)Wednesday19:45: (3.45) Club Brugge (3.40) Porto (2.25)19:45: (1.13) Inter (8.50) Plzen (19.0)22:00: (4.00) Ajax (3.80) Liverpool (1.95)22:00: (1.23) Napoli (6.50) Rangers (12.0)22:00: (1.80) Atl.Madrid (3.60) Leverkusen (4.60)22:00: (2.40) Barcelona (3.60) Bayern (3.00)22:00: (2.50) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.30) Olympique Marseille (3.10)22:00: (1.50) Tottenham (4.50) Sporting (7.25)***odds are subject to change***
