Graham Potter praises Chelsea progress after reaching the last 16 of the Champions League
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Published 25/10/2022 at 20:41 GMT+1
Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz scored stunning goals as Chelsea booked their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 2-1 against Red Bull Salzburg in Austria. Graham Potter's side are top of Group E with one game remaining, and he expects his team to get even better in the next stage, saying "the more chances you create, the more the quality will come through".
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Chelsea manager Graham Potter says their progression to the Champions League knockout stage is a big step in the team’s development under him.
They sealed their place in the last-16 with a 2-1 win against Red Bull Salzburg in Austria - a victory which ended a 40-match unbeaten record for the home side.
Speaking after the match, Potter said: “It's not easy to create chances against this team but we did, we created good chances from good play.
"We've had a lot of games and disruption in terms of key players missing, but they've responded really well and to go through in the Champions League, it's a fantastic effort. We will take steps, tonight was one of those.”
Although they had plenty of chances, Chelsea never killed the game off completely, but Potter says that is not a worry for him.
“You back the quality of the players that the more chances you create, the more the quality will come through. So it's not a big concern," he added.
Potter is the first Chelsea manager to go unbeaten in their first four Champions League matches since Roberto Di Matteo, who led the club to European glory in 2012.
With this being the 47-year-old’s first experience of taking on the continent’s best teams, he said: “It's a top competition, amazing, fantastic to be involved in. There have been big tests against fantastic teams and coming to these incredible venues. I've really enjoyed it.”
Mateo Kovacic gave Chelsea the lead with a stunning strike in Austria, which left his teammates stunned, with midfielder Conor Gallagher telling BT Sport: "It was a great finish, I couldn't believe it to be honest! To get that first goal was important and helped us out and gave us confidence in the game."
Kovacic admits it was the perfect homecoming, saying: “It's nice to score where I was born. My parents were here and my friends.”
"I don't score many but this goal was a nice one. I always say it's important the team wins and less important who scores”, he said.
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Mateo Kovacic celebrates his goal for Chelsea in their 2-1 Champions League win against RB Salzburg
Image credit: Getty Images
The hosts equalised early in the second half through Junior Adamu, before Kai Havertz sealed progress into the knockout stages for Potter’s side with a beautiful left-footed curled strike from the edge of the area, which kissed the crossbar on its way in.
For Gallagher it was a first Champions League start, and he said: “It's a really proud moment, I wanted to give a good performance and for us to get the win. Hopefully I can push on after this.”
"Every game is very important and we've got a lot of them so everyone needs to be ready. Hopefully we can carry on in the form we're in," he said.
Chelsea are top of Group E with 10 points and face Dinamo Zagreb at Stamford Bridge next Wednesday in the final match of the group stage.
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