Chelsea new boss Graham Potter and midfield star Matteo Kovacic have both entered the Champions League's record books for respective reasons following Tuesday night's win over RB Salzburg. The pair all had a role to play as the Blues matched on to the Round of 16 stage with the 2-1 win in their fifth group stage encounter of the campaign.
Ahead of the match-up, Chelsea knew that a win will be enough to guarantee them a spot in the next round of the competition and were successful in making their mark at the Red Bull Arena. They opened the scoring in the first half through Matteo Kovacic's stunner in the 23rd minute to assume the driver's seat going into half time. With the goal, the 28-year-old Croatian midfielder became only the second player after his compatriot Luka Modric to score his first five Champions League goals under different managers.
5 - Mateo Kovacic is only the second player to score his first five Champions League goals under different managers (Jurcic, Benitez, Zidane, Lampard, Potter), along with Luka Modric (Redknapp, Mourinho, Ancelotti, Benitez, Zidane). Varied. pic.twitter.com/dPls7zUUis
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 25, 2022
The second half started off on a rather wrong turn for Chelsea as Junior Adamu will restore parity for the hosts with his strike in the 48th minute. However, Kai Havertz superb goal from 20 yards was enough to restore Chelsea's lead and snatch all three points for the visitors.
The result extended the Blues' unbeaten run under new boss Graham Potter to nine. Consequently, the former Brighton manager became the second Englishman to go undefeated in his first nine games as Chelsea manager in all competitions after William Lewis in 1906/07.
He is also the first Chelsea manager to go unbeaten in their first four Champions League matches since Roberto Di Matteo in 2012.
