TheCable

A second-half howitzer from Kai Havertz secured a vital 2-1 victory for Chelsea in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) group match against RB Salzburg at the Red Bull Arena, Austria, on Wednesday.

Graham Potter led the Blues to Austria in search of three points to secure their qualification to the last 16.

The London club demonstrated their intentions to the host in the 23rd minute after a confused defence from Salzburg served Mateo Kovacic with the time and space to wallop the ball into the net from the edge of the goal area.

The goal was the midfielder’s first since January 2 and it came in the country of his birth.

Salzburg, however, levelled the scoreline in the 48th minute after Junior Adamu jabbed home the equalizer.

The Nigerian-born 21-year-old sent the home fans into bedlam with his 10th goal of the season.

But the determination and talent of the Blues attack could not be bridled for long as Havertz scored the winning goal.

The triumph means Chelsea have secured the 10-point threshold required to qualify for the round of 16 with one game to spare.

In the other match of the day, Paris St Germain (PSG) ran riot on Maccabi Haifa to register a 7-2 victory at the Parc des Princes.

Braces from Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe were complimented by strikes from Neymar, Carlos Soler and an own goal for Sean Goldberg to complete the onslaught for the French giants.

Juventus are out of the competition after a disappointing 4-3 loss to Benfica in Portugal.

Real Madrid also suffered their first defeat of the season as RB Leipzig pipped the Spanish giants 3-2.

Madrid had been unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions this season, with 14 wins and two draws.

RESULTS 

Chelsea 2-1 RB Salzburg

PSG 7-2 Maccabi Haifa

Benfica 4-3 Juventus

RB Leipzig 3-2 Real Madrid

Dortmund 0-0 Man City

Dinamo Zagreb 0-4 AC Milan

Sevilla 3-0 Copehagen

Celtic 1-1 Shakhtar Donetsk