Chelsea earns a spot in the Champions League Round of 16 via Havertz stunner

Chelsea's excellent 2-1 win at Red Bull Salzburg has secured their place in the Champions League's knockout rounds. Despite Junior Adamu's first-half goal cancelling out Mateo Kovacic's first-half goal, Kai Havertz scored one of the best goals of his Chelsea career to put his team in the round of 16 with one game remaining. The Premier League heavyweights, who put on perhaps their greatest performance since Graham Potter's hiring, also snapped Red Bull Salzburg's 40-match streak of victories in all competitions. Chelsea are assured to proceed as group champions since they lead AC Milan by three points and have a better head-to-head record, while AC Milan destroyed Dinano Zagreb in the other Group E match. Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling were used as wingbacks, and a central-midfield three was also used by Potter to vary with his Chelsea starting lineup. As Salzburg matched their more illustrious opponents for the first quarter of an hour, it was unclear whether the change in tactic would be successful. However, Chelsea's first-half dominance started with a spectacular finish from Kovacic. The Austrian-born midfielder scored just his fifth goal in 197 appearances for Chelsea with a superbly instinctive strike with his left foot that struck the top corner from 16 yards out while the ball was deflected into his path by a Salzburg defender. After saving a header from a corner, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang failed to complete an amazing team move by shooting too close to goalkeeper Philipp Kohn. Chelsea then went on to play their most attractive football since Potter's hiring. Prior to Salzburg's goalkeeper making a spectacular save to deny Aubameyang from 15 yards shortly before halftime, Havertz was the next to go close, sending a weak header straight at Kohn when he should have scored. Three minutes after the break, Salzburg scored a fantastic goal on the break, assuaging Potter's fears that Chelsea's lack of ruthlessness would come back to bother them. Maximilian Wober advanced down the left wing before whipping a precise cross into Junior Adamu's path, who calmly slid a first-time attempt past Kepa Arrizabalaga. Aubameyang was again denied by Kohn in Chelsea's instant response, and Jorginho had a header pushed off the line as Chelsea nearly went ahead twice. However, Havertz's flash of brilliance allowed Chelsea to take the lead again. The German turned on the edge of the box before curling a shot under the crossbar and into the top corner of the goal. Although the home team was briefly startled, they quickly regained their composure when Benjamin Sesko forced Arrizabalaga to make a sharp stop low down to his left. Strahinja Pavlovic's header swung toward goal after Arrizabalaga mistimed a punch on the penalty spot, but Thiago Silva was able to clear it off the line. Even though Chelsea occasionally came close to scoring a third goal, Salzburg got the better of the final 15 minutes, forcing the Blues backline to play increasingly frenetic defence. Nevertheless, thanks to strong efforts from TrevohChalobah and Silva, Arrizabalaga did not need to make a better save from Sesko than he had already done. Potter's unbeaten run as Chelsea manager has now reached nine games, and he will now get ready to visit his old team Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on Saturday. For more Sports updates please follow us on Twitter