Graham Potter watched Kai Havertz's wondergoal fire Chelsea into the Champions League's last-16 but warned: “It will not be a straight road.”
Havertz threaded a fabulous shot through the proverbial eye of the needle after the Blues had missed a stack of chances at the Red Bull Arena. And head coach Potter – who had never even been to a Champions League game until his Chelsea baptism six weeks ago – said: “His quality is there, he’s an incredibly talented player.
“His goal was amazing - top corner, it makes my job a lot easier when they can do that. I am really pleased because he’s been fighting and trying his best and almost scoring more. So to score that and help us through is fantastic. I wouldn’t be able to score a goal like that to be fair, I can only imagine! It’s a fantastic strike and an indication of his quality.”
When Junior Adamu equalised for Salzburg early in the second half, it looked as if Chelsea's age-old problem – wasteful finishing – would come back to haut them. But £72million German forward Havertz came up trumps and Potter insisted: “It’s not easy to create chances against this team because defensively they are so intense and aggressive.
“I thought we did create some good chances from good play. We’ve had a lot of games and a little bit of disruption in terms of some key players missing, but credit to the boys they’ve responded really well.
“They’ve picked up points in the Premier League and to go through as we have in the Champions League is a fantastic effort from everybody. It will not be a straight road, unfortunately. But we are taking steps in the right direction and I think tonight was one.
“I can’t comment on (the finishing) before I was here. All I can say is it’s good that we create chances and perform well. Then you back the quality of the players - the more chances we create, then the quality will come through. So it’s not too much of a concern.”
Chelsea's opener was scored by Austria-born Mateo Kovacic, his first goal in almost 10 months, and he said: "It's nice to score where I was born. My parents were here and my friends.
"We knew they would come out strongly in the second half but we reacted very well. I don't score many but this goal was a nice one. I always say it's important the team wins and less important who scores."
