Chelsea, on Tuesday, qualified for the Champions League knockout stages with a game to spare as Kai Havertz’s stunning second-half strike helped to see off Red Bull Salzburg.

Chelsea’s victory margin could have been far greater but a combination of some wasteful finishing from Pierre-Emerick Aubemayeng and Havertz, and some inspired goalkeeping by Salzburg’s Philipp Kohn, meant the result was in the balance until the final whistle.

But Havertz put his early miss behind him to ensure he ended up as the match-winner when he swept home a brilliant effort from the edge of the Salzburg area, which even outshone the classy goal Mateo Kovacic scored in the first half and cancelled out Junior Adamu’s equaliser just after half-time.

The victory means Chelsea cannot be caught by either the Austrian champions or AC Milan in the Group E table.

Graham Potter, who is now unbeaten in his first nine matches as Chelsea’s head coach, has the luxury of being able to rest players in the final group game at home to Dinamo Zagreb next week.

The Star