Havertz stunner sees off Salzburg as Chelsea reach Champions League last 16

Chelsea reached the Champions League knockout stages with a game to spare after Kai Havertz’s stunning second-half strike helped to see off Red Bull Salzburg.

The Blues now cannot be caught by either the Austrian champions or AC Milan, meaning Graham Potter, who is now unbeaten in his first nine matches as Chelsea’s head coach, has the luxury of being able to rest players in the final group game at home to Dinamo Zagreb next week.

The visitors’ margin of victory should have been far greater but a combination of some wasteful finishing from Pierre-Emerick Aubemayeng and Havertz, and some inspired goalkeeping by Salzburg’s Philipp Kohn, meant the result was in the balance until the final whistle.

But Havertz put his early miss behind him to ensure he ended up as the match-winner when he swept home a brilliant effort from the edge of the Salzburg area, which even outshone the classy goal Mateo Kovacic scored in the first half and cancelled out Junior Adamu’s equaliser just after half-time.

How Chelsea ended Salzburg’s 40-game unbeaten home run

Potter has enjoyed a strong start to life as Chelsea’s head coach and he may feel the first 45 minutes at the Red Bull Arena was the best his side have produced during his short time in charge.