RB Salzburg vs Chelsea Champions League result and reaction as Chelsea qualify for knockout stage - live
RB Salzburg 1-2 Chelsea: Goals from Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz see Blues book their spot int he kockouts with a game to spare
Kai Havertz’s brilliant second-half goal earned Chelsea a 2-1 win at RB Salzburg which booked their place in the Champions League knockout stages.
The Germany international curled in a stunning effort midway through the second half to decide a testing evening in Austria and extend Graham Potter’s unbeaten start to his Blues reign to nine games.
The Premier League side had gone ahead through a fine strike by Mateo Kovacic and only a string of saves by impressive home goalkeeper Philipp Kohn stopped it being a rout at half-time.
The Austrian side levelled early in the second half through Junior Adamu’s superb breakaway effort as Chelsea looked in peril. Havertz had the final say, though, winning the match in style and sending his side through with his 20-yard effort that found the top corner.
Chelsea will top Group E if Dinamo Zagreb fail to beat AC Milan in the late kick-off. Relive the action as Chelsea beat RB Salzburg in the Champions League:
RB Salzburg 1-2 Chelsea
86 mins: Chance! Salzburg continue to try and rescue the game as they win a corner late in the second half. The ball is whipped into the middle and Kepa comes out to flap at the ball.
He doesn’t clear it and it drops kindly for Lucas Gourna-Douath who belts an effort over the crossbar!
RB Salzburg 1-2 Chelsea
83 mins: Thiago Silva lands awkwardly after winning an aerial duel ahead of Roko Simic. The 37-year-old lands on his back and stays down as the referee stops the game.
The Chelsea medical team come on to check him over but it seems as though he’ll be okay to play on.
RB Salzburg 1-2 Chelsea
80 mins: 10 minutes to play in Austria and Chelsea have a decent grip on the game. Graham Potter’s tactical change seem to have slowed the attacking rhythm of the home side.
Remember three points is enough for Chelsea to qualify for the knockouts so they’re content to keep possession and manage the game.
RB Salzburg 1-2 Chelsea
76 mins: With less than 15 minutes to play Graham Potter looks to make Chelsea a bit more defensively solid with two more changes.
Cesar Azpilicueta and Armando Broja come on to replace Christian Pulisic and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It also looks as though Potter has switched the formation into a back four.
RB Salzburg 1-2 Chelsea
73 mins: Chance! Sterling brings the ball down the left side and waits for Havertz to complete his overlapping run before slipping the ball up to him.
Havertz squares it into the box where Pulisic runs onto the pass but miscues his first time strike. The ball bobbles back tp Gallagher who does smoke one but his shot is blocked by the nearest defender.
RB Salzburg 1-2 Chelsea
70 mins: Ruben Loftus-Cheek is on to replace Mateo Kovacic for Chelsea.
Salzburg send another aerial ball into the box and this one it nodded on by Strahinja Pavlovic. Kepa Arrizabalaga comes to deal with it but he’s left in no-man’s land and for half a second Chelsea look worried.
There’s no need though as Thiago Silva drops back, brings the ball under control on his chest then works it away just a couple of yards in front of the goal line.
RB Salzburg 1-2 Chelsea
67 mins: Salzburg aren’t done yet. Sesko leans on Chalobah and pushes the defender away from the ball as it comes over the top from the left.
His first touch it excellent and he turns into a more central area before drilling a low shot at goal that Kepa turns wide of the target!
GOAL! RB Salzburg 1-2 Chelsea (Havertz, 64)⚽️
64 mins: It wasn’t a good time after all! Kai Havertz gives Chelsea the lead once more!
The Blues work the ball down the right side and send it up to Christian Pulisic. Conor Gallagher makes a run off the ball into the box to draw away one of the central defenders before Pulisic spins off an attempted tackle and threads the ball across to Havertz.
He receives it on the front edge of the box, rolls the ball onto his left foot then curls a beautiful effort into the top left-hand corner!
Celtic vs Shakhtar line-ups
Under 30 minutes to play at the Red Bull Arena with Chelsea searching for a winning goal. Now seems like a good opportunity to check out the line-ups for Celtic vs Shakhtar Donetsk at 8pm.
Here are the teams:
Celtic XI: Hart; Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Jenz, Taylor; O’Riley, Hatate, Abada; Haksabanovic, Kyogo, Giakoumakis
Shakhtar XI: Trubin; Mykhaylichenko, Bondar, Matviyenko, Taylor; Stepanenko; Zubkov, Bondarenko, Traoré, Mudryk; Sudakov
RB Salzburg 1-1 Chelsea
62 mins: Thiago Silva commands the Chelsea penalty area and heads the ball away for a throw in. The ball comes back into the box and Sesko flicks it on but once again the Blues are on top of things and work the ball clear.
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