Well, at least we know where Chelsea fans stand on Graham Potter.
Over two hours before kick-off, the massed ranks of the Blues’ fanbase lined the street outside Stamford Bridge to provide their support for him and his side with their backs against the wall. Never mind Twitter keyboard warriors eating cornflakes at their mum’s.
When push came to shove, there were so many genuine supporters lining the Fulham Road the police had to form a cordon to keep them back. Inside the stadium, you could cut the tension with a knife, with both sets of fans well aware that Chelsea ’s season relied on this 90 minutes.
No FA Cup, no Carabao Cup and they sit 10th in the Premier League. Since the World Cup, the only teams they have beaten are Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Leeds. They needed this.
Never mind the long-term vision of owner Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali. Bold and ambitious though it may be, fans pay their money for the here and now, to see victories against teams their sides should be beating on a week-to-week basis.
So, the Chelsea fans heeded Potter’s rallying cry to do their bit and the players duly did theirs. Yes, Chelsea were helped massively by the absence of Borussia Dortmund’s speedy forward Karim Adeyemi, scorer of the decisive goal in the first leg and four goals in each of his last four appearances.
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Dortmund were also missing first-choice keeper Gregor Kobel. To be fair, his replacement, Alexander Meyer, didn’t do too badly, pulling off some fine saves. But this was to be Chelsea’s night.
We’ve never seen Potter as animated as he was when Raheem Sterling eventually smashed in the goal to wipe out Dortmund’s first-leg advantage. But he knew. He was well aware that for the owners backing him this would have been an even tougher sell had Chelsea gone yet another game without scoring.
Yes, Potter couldn’t watch that twice-taken Kai Havertz penalty which eventually sealed their ticket. You suspect Boehly and Eghbali probably looked through their fingers too. And let’s not kid ourselves, Roman Abramovich would have sacked Potter three times over by now, but the new guard and this priceless win has given him breathing space, sealed with the approval of the Chelsea fanbase.
