Soccer

Graham Potter’s first game as Chelsea manager ends with Salzburg stalemate at the Bridge

Raheem Sterling opens the scoring as Noah Okafor levels for the visitors

Graham Potter's Chelsea drew in his first game in charge. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Graham Potter's Chelsea drew in his first game in charge. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
David Hytner at Stamford Bridge
Wed Sept 14 2022 - 22:20

Chelsea 1 RB Salzburg 1

After everything that has gone on over the past week or so, all of the upheaval, sparked by the sacking of Thomas Tuchel, Chelsea needed something here. Graham Potter needed something here. It was the new manager’s first experience of a Champions League tie, a detail to highlight his sudden ascent. It would be a wild night for him.

For most of the second half, it felt as though Raheem Sterling had kickstarted Potter’s tenure. With a roll of his studs to set the ball and a swish of his right boot, the winger found the far corner of the Red Bull Salzburg net and Chelsea could sense a similar ignition point for their Champions League campaign – following the trauma of the defeat at Dinamo Zagreb.

Salzburg had other ideas. As Potter directed his players in new shapes, it was a battle for cohesion and the sucker punch would arrive. Thiago Silva had been a case study in how to defend, a model of composure, hearing praise from the home support. Then he erred.

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The ball was his to win on the left hand side of the Chelsea defence only he mistimed his challenge on the substitute, Junior Adamu, and Salzburg were in. Adamu crossed low, Noah Okafor made his move and his shot deflected in off César Azpilicueta. Chelsea tried to rally but their late push came to nothing. For Potter, there was only frustration.

It had been impossible to escape the subdued atmosphere that clung to the spectacle in the countdown to kick-off; the music slow and doleful, the union jacks hanging behind one of the goals. “RIP Your Majesty,” read a banner.

It was a pair of Chelsea pensioners who emerged first from the tunnel to lay wreaths and there were loud renditions of God Save The Queen from both ends – in the absence of Uefa allowing the national anthem to be played over the PA system.

Potter’s entrance was the definition of low-key – out of necessity. Wearing a black suit and tie, he ducked left into his technical area, where he briefly applauded all four corners of the stadium. The response was decent.

Potter’s first Chelsea line-up featured three full-backs – César Azpilicueta was alongside Thiago Silva – and the centre-halves, Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly, recruited over the summer at a combined cost of £108.8m, on the bench. Ben Chilwell joined them there.

What was noticeable from the early running was how high the full-back, Reece James, played on the right, which allowed Mason Mount to tuck in ahead of him and Kai Havertz to roam from the No10 role. The system was fluid. Potter wants assurance on the ball, the confidence to play out of tight situations but Kepa Arrizabalaga almost unhinged his team with a heavy pass to Jorginho on the edge of the area. Benjamin Sesko jumped in to win the ball and Salzburg looked as if they were in. Sesko, though, was penalised for a soft foul.

The action meandered in the first half, with Salzburg carrying the physical fight, particularly through Sesko and Strahinja Pavlovic, towering figures at the front and back. There was time for the home support to salute Potter’s predecessor, Tuchel, on 21 minutes. He had won Chelsea’s second Champions League title in 2021. They no longer have Super Tommy Tuchel but he will always have a place in their affections. Potter has to earn it.

What would have been a surprise on the pitch here? Nothing, frankly. Not with Chelsea’s history and not given the events of the past week or so when the club’s new owners have sacked a Champions League winning manager after three losses this season and taken a calculated risk on a managerial novice at this level.

Chelsea laboured to join the dots before the interval, to create much of clear-cut note. Too many times from a Chelsea perspective the final action was awry or Salzburg got a body in the way. James blasted away from Pavlovic but his cross was too far in front of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Raheem Sterling had the beating of his man on the other side but his deliveries could not find their target.

Chelsea’s best opening in the first half had fallen to Mason Mount; he fizzed wide from the edge of the area while Arrizabalaga had to be alert to tip away a curler from Sesko.

Potter pinned Sterling high and wide on the left and the attempt to categorise the formation was fraught. It looked more like a 3-5-2 in the second half, with Marc Cucurella on the left of the defence and Mateo Kovacic pushing up as one of the No 8s. Havertz was left to sniff out spaces around Aubameyang, who was a yard off the pace.

When the breakthrough came, it was all about the drive of James – a theme of the evening – and Mount’s searching cross from the right. But Salzburg will not enjoy the replays, particularly the centre-half, Bernardo, who missed his kick and allowed the ball to run through for Sterling.

- Guardian