RB Salzburg v Chelsea player ratings: Kohn 8, Bernardo 5; Havertz 8, Kovacic 8

Blues delight manager Graham Potter after qualifying for last 16 of Champions League

SALZBURG RATINGS: Philipp Kohn, 8 – Tested early on as he raced off his line to rescue the situation when Bernardo’s nervous header asked for trouble. No chance of keeping out Kovacic’s cracker or Havertz’s formidable strike, but he denied Aubameyang with a series of excellent saves. Reuters

Amar Dedic, 7 – Beaten for pace by the electric Pulisic, but he responded well and forced his side’s first opportunity, winning a corner. Frustrated the Chelsea wingers, but was saved by his keeper after Aubameyang strolled past him. AFP

Maximilian Wober, 7 – Fortunate not to see his side 2-0 down when Aubameyang’s header deflected off him and towards the goal, but Kohn was on-hand to save the day again. Presented Amadu with a tap-in with a pinpoint delivery from the right flank. Reuters

Strahinja Pavlovic, 6 – The midfielder saw red at the weekend and didn’t seem to have learned his lesson when he clumsily clattered into Gallagher deep in his own half. Almost restored parity in bizarre fashion when his flick-on was hacked away by Silva after a Kepa error. EPA

Bernardo, 5 – Survived an early scare when he appeared to trip over his own feet under pressure from Hazertz, but much to his relief his headed pass back just about trickled through to his goalkeeper. AP

Nicolas Seiwald, 6 – Passive. The 21-year-old worked hard in the middle but struggled to contain the energy and skill of Gallagher and Kovacic, who dictated proceedings. AFP

Lucas Gourna-Douath, 5 – Blasted a priceless opportunity wide of goal after Kepa flapped at another delivery. That was his best opportunity, and he just had to hit the target. AFP

Maurits Kjaergaard, 7– Put Chelsea under pressure for the first time with a dangerous in-swinging corner, but it was well dealt with by Chalobah. Fired just wide of the near-post as the hosts hunted a response. A decent display, but he was withdrawn in the second half. Reuters

Luka Sucic, 6 – Had three Chelsea defenders scrambling when he burst away and charged towards the box, only to blaze his effort over the bar. Booked for protesting a little too much following a potential Kovacic handball. EPA

Junior Amadu, 8 – Bundled over Cucurella which allowed Chelsea to put the ball straight back into the Salzburg half, but he punished the Blues’ wastefulness when he slotted in his 10th of the season before denying Jorginho with a stunning goal-line clearance. AFP

Noah Okafor, 7 – Pressed well when Salzburg were able to get up the pitch and that led to a corner when he pounced on a loose pass from Kepa. Smashed a decent chance comfortably over from 25-yards and saw another serving strike held by Kepa. Getty

SUBS: Andreas Ulmer (on for Wober, 78), NR – Provided fresh cover at the back following a big shift from Wober. EPA

Dijon Kameri (on for Adamu, 81), NR – Brought on to combat Chelsea’s reinforcements in midfield as Salzburg hunted a late equaliser. A big ask replacing a man who made mammoth contributions at both ends, but he didn’t have time to make his mark. EPA

Benjamin Sesko (on for Sucic, 61), NR – Tested Kepa who was forced into a fingertip save down to his left after a rare mistake from Chalobah allowed him to turn and shoot. AFP

Roko Simic (on for Okafor, ‘78), NR – Didn’t have much chance to make an impact, although Silva certainly made a big impact with the ground after going over the top of the Salzburg substitute head first. Ouch. AFP

CHELSEA RATINGS: Kepa Arrizabalaga, 6 – A couple of good saves but a few heart-in-mouth moments too. Got down well to tip Sesko’s effort around the post but he was bailed out by Silva after getting nowhere near a cross from deep. Getty

Trevoh Chalobah, 7 – A strong performance from the youngster. Relieved some early pressure with a brilliant defensive header to repel an in-swinging Salzburg corner and showed superb strength to hold off the hustling Okafor and see the ball out for a goal-kick. AFP

Thiago Silva, 7 – Proper no-nonsense defending. A rock at the back, which probably sums up his whole career. Showed just how tough - and committed - he is when he won a duel with Simic and pretty much landed on his head. AFP

Marc Cucurella, 6 – Did the simple things well at the back despite a lack of protection from Pulisic in front of him, although he couldn’t get near to Amadu as the forward rolled in the equaliser. PA

Raheem Sterling, 6 – Almost created an opening with a trademark dart inside from the left, but his delivery was comfortably deflected and didn’t quite end up in the path of Aubameyang. Set up the latter again late in the first half, but again Chelsea couldn’t convert. PA

Mateo Kovacic, 8 – Caught in possession taking a needless risk by Dedic who was able to force a Salzburg corner, but he swept the visitors ahead in style with an excellent first-time finish that came out of nowhere, and he was awesome beyond that. PA

Jorginho, 7 – Caused problems in the opening minutes when a seemingly harmless ball over the top nearly turned into a nightmare for Bernardo. Seized onto a few poor passes from the hosts, but saw his second-half header agonisingly cleared off the line. AP

Christian Pulisic, 7 – Had both Salzburg fullbacks looking fearful as he twice breezed past his marker. His lack of defensive awareness was exposed as Salzburg exploited space in behind to make it 1-1, but he produced a neat turn to tee up Havertz’s wonder-goal. AFP

Conor Gallagher, 7 – Enjoyed himself in the middle of the park. Battled hard in an industrious display and was constantly the man looking to link up the play. A tireless display from the young midfielder. AFP

Kai Havertz, 8 – Played off the shoulder well and almost pounced on a loose ball over the top that was completely misjudged by Bernardo. Should twice have made it 2-0 from close range, only to hammer home a stunner that kissed the bar on its way in. EPA

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 6 – Found himself with a couple of early half-chances after good work from Gallagher and Sterling, but he was unable to bring the ball under his spell and was denied by the superb Kohn. PA

SUBS: Ruben Loftus-Cheek (on for Kovacic, ‘68), 6 – Provided fresh legs in the middle as Chelsea looked to secure their passage into the next round. PA

Armando Broja (on for Aubameyang, ‘75), NR – Made a real nuisance of himself but found himself on the wrong end of a couple of harsh decisions from the referee as he terrorised defenders. AFP

Cesar Azpilicueta (on for Pulisic, ‘75), NR – Brought on for the final quarter of an hour as Chelsea opted for defensive caution. PA

Mason Mount (on for Gallagher, ‘88), NR – There’s no doubting his ability, but this time his introduction was solely aimed at eating up a few more valuable seconds. EPA

Hakim Ziyech (on for Sterling, ‘88), NR – Worked hard in the short time that he was on the pitch but this was little more than a cameo. PA

Liam Wheeler

Chelsea manager Graham Potter was delighted to seal progress to the Champions League last 16 with a game to spare after a 2-1 win away to Salzburg.

Kai Havertz's stunning strike 26 minutes from time proved the difference between the sides after Junior Adamu cancelled out Mateo Kovacic's opener for the Blues.

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Brilliant Havertz books Chelsea's passage in Champions League

Victory extended Chelsea's unbeaten run under Potter to nine games and the manager said: “That was a fantastic performance from the players.

“I'm delighted to go through with a game to spare considering where we started the competition.”

Player ratings from the match can be seen in the gallery above. To view the next image, just swipe.

Updated: October 26, 2022, 2:37 AM