There were 15 minutes remaining when Salzburg, second best for most of the game, silenced Stamford Bridge for the second time on the night. An impressive exchange of passes, from back and midfield, ended with substitute Junior Adamu sprinting down the right flank. Graham Potter will be hoping for more after his first game at Chelsea ended in a 1-1 draw against RB Salzburg. The Blues remain bottom of Group E after defeat in Zagreb last week and face 1st-placed AC Milan next Raheem Sterling opened the scoring early in the second half for the home side after they lacked an edge in the first half. But Noah Okafor took advantage of poor Chelsea defending to equalize with 15 minutes remaining
MATCH DETAILS AND PLAYER RATINGS
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Arrizabalaga 7; James 7, Azpilicueta 6.5 (Ziyeh 82 minutes), Silva 6.5, Cucurella 7; Kovacic 6.5 (Gallagher 81), Jorginho 7; Mount 7, Havertz 6.5 (Loftus-Cheek 66, 6.5), Sterling 7.5 (Pulisic 84); Aubameyang 6 (Brocha 66, 6.5). Scorer: Sterling 48. Booking: James. Director: Graham Potter 7.5. SALZBURG (4-3-1-2): Con 7.5; Dedic 7.5, Bernard 8, Pavlovic 8, Ulmer 6; Capaldo 6, Seiwald 6, Kjaergaard 6 (Gourna-Douath 46, 6); Sucic 6 (Camel 70, 5.5); Cesko 6.5 (Adams 70, 6), Okafor 5.5 (Look 85). Scorer: Okafor 75. Booked: Adamu, Pavlovic, Ulmer, Capaldo. Director: Matthias Jaissle 6. Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia) 7.5. Attendances: 38,818.
His low cross was met by Switzerland international Noah Okafar, who lost Thiago Silva and cleverly turned the ball past goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. First time, too, you will notice. How could Chelsea have done with a similar sense of determination. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t been warned. Just two minutes earlier, Okafor had forced a fine save from Arrizabalaga with a quick header, at a moment in the game when many had decided one would be enough in Potter’s first game. Earlier this week, he admitted that he had never watched a game in this competition, let alone participated in one, and now he knows how tough it is, even against those teams that qualify as fodder. Potter is, incredibly, only the eighth England manager to mark time in this competition and just two have won their first game. True, winning has hardly proved a lasting omen for Craig Shakespeare at Leicester or Michael Carrick at Manchester United, but Potter still wouldn’t mind being in that company. It’s all about encouragement, Graham Potter. When Kepa Arrizabalaga came off his line to head a Salzburg long ball, when Chelsea came down the flank, even if the final ball was lost, he raised his arms above his head and hit hard, noticeably. He struck and made sure the players knew that this was what he wanted – bold play, bold decision-making. And Chelsea had the snapshot of players trying to impress. Flying into tackles, leaping like a deer, impressive high energy. It’s all part of the new manager’s bounce back – although opinions differ on whether Chelsea needed one. The manager certainly looked the part too. Flawless in a black suit and black tie. The minute’s silence for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was also perfect. Not a murmur, beside the voice of an Austrian radio commentator, who mistakenly thought the continued silence needed an explanation. He was quickly silenced – by the referees, members of the Chelsea bench. So what was Potter’s Chelsea like? Some will say he plays a back three. I’m not sure about that. If Raheem Sterling was a left wing-back, he would be the tallest wing-back the game has seen. He was deployed to support the forwards rather than in defence, once he got into his own half. Rhys James, on the other hand, got more defensive duties with Mason Mount around. When Chelsea hit from the back, Cesar Azpilicueta pushed out of his central role to receive the ball. At best it was a four, three hybrid. What was more noticeable in many ways was who didn’t play. Stamford Bridge observed an immaculate minute’s silence following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday last week Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a chance inside five minutes but his attempted lob over Philippe Cone was off target. No place in the starting line-up for Wesley Fofana or Kalidou Koulibaly. So that’s around £140m for the newly acquired central defense on the fringes, right there. Fair play to Potter for that though. He is at his strongest now, as the new man. No point picking the owner’s team and wondering what his team might have done. And his defense looked pretty solid. Salzburg’s chances were few and far between and Arrizabalaga had a real save in the first half when Benjamin Sesko’s shot rolled towards the far post and he did well to get down. He then failed to connect with a first-time volley following a long ball from Mason Mount as Chelsea pressed for an opener. But Sterling eventually broke the deadlock and scored the first goal of the Potter era with a delightful curling effort into the corner Cesko, a Slovenian giant, has been compared to Erling Haaland, but the jury is out. No manager would have left Haaland out of the starting line-up for such a game in his Borussia Dortmund days and Cesko only got the call-up when striker Fernando was injured in the warm-up. Salzburg’s only other chance of the half came when Arrizabalaga played a silly ball, hard and fast to Jorginho on the edge of the area, and failed to control it. Fortunately for Chelsea, their opponents were too eager to scramble and a free-kick was awarded. This could have been disastrous. On the other end, known problems remained. Lots of ball, very nice football, but problems in front of the goal. Sterling, in particular, looked shy of great positions. He was often in and around Salzburg’s six-metre box – high enough for a full-back – and one wonders what might have happened had the ball fallen to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. In many cases, he was shouting for the first time. Sterling took a touch and was then disqualified. The Blues couldn’t hold on as Okafor headed home a Junior Adamu cross after a low deflection from Cesar Azpilicueta. The Blues had chances late on through substitutes Armando Broja and Hakim Ziyech, but neither could beat the keeper. Ben Chilwell may also be concerned about his Chelsea future with Potter now reunited with Mark Cuccarella, who was preferred at left-back here. It was his corner that served up Chelsea’s first chance after 13 minutes, met by Kai Havertz whose header was clipped on the way to goal. It was Cucarella again in the 39th minute, this time cutting in after Sterling had saved the shot. Cucarella found Mount, but his shot, hit a superb cross, curling just wide of the far post. In between, Rhys James hit a deep cross that eluded everyone but fell to Sterling on the left. He had a good view of the goal but was too late to pull the trigger and a defender got in the way. Luckily, Potter and Chelsea, he didn’t make that mistake next time. Just three minutes after the restart, Chelsea got the break they deserved. James picked off Mount on the right and the Salzburg defense failed to deal with his low cross. So did Aubameyang, whose poor footwork accidentally let Sterling receive the ball in important space on the left. This time he made no mistake, firing the ball past Salzburg keeper Philipp Kohn. The Potter era was underway. Thiago Silva failed to clear the ball for offside before Salzburg’s equalizer and looked frustrated at the end of the period. Relive KISHAN VAGHELA’s Sportsmail coverage of Chelsea’s draw with RB Salzburg below.
