Kai Havertz booked Chelsea a place in the Champions League knockout stages with a spectacular second-half effort against Red Bull Salzburg. The Blues won 2-1 to top Group E as Graham Potter extended his unbeaten start in the new job to nine games.
While Havertz's delicately lofted stunner stole the limelight, Trevoh Chalobah impressed as he commanded the west Londoners' backline. The 23-year-old remains unbeaten whenever he has started for Chelsea and, with Wesley Fofana out injured, he's greatly impressed, shouldering the workload of the £75million signing.
And, it's fair to say that Chalobah had his work cut out; Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic operated as overly attack-minded wing-backs. So, with that being said, football.london has taken a look at how the national media reacted to the Villa Park victory.
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The Guardian
"The visitors were creating chances at will," Jacob Steinberg wrote. "Havertz and [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang had headers saved and the only disappointment for Chelsea was they scored only once during the opening period. It had ended with Sterling playing in Aubameyang, who was thwarted by Kohn again. Chelsea’s profligacy emboldened Salzburg. Matthias Jaissle’s side were far more aggressive in the second half and finally started to hurt a defence weakened by injuries to Reece James, Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly."
The Mirror
"In honesty, Salzburg's equaliser was somewhat against the run of play," Daniel Orme wrote. "Chelsea were utterly dominant throughout large swaths of the clash and but for Kohn and his six saves throughout the game, they could have racked up an emphatic scoreline.
"As the game progressed, it appeared as though it was going to require another world-class goal or a mistake for Chelsea to edge ahead once more. Usefully, it was the former that proved to be decisive.
"German international Kai Havertz picked up the ball on the edge if the Salzburg penalty area and smashed home a stunning effort that crashed in off of the crossbar and in turn ended his goalless run of Champions League away games."
Daily Mail
"The main concern would have been that their half-time lead was not bigger," Adrian Kajumba wrote. "Some of their football was certainly worthy of more, particularly a couple of slick moves that ended with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being denied by Kohn who was kept busy throughout. Salzburg had threatened sporadically but it was not initially obvious why they had been so formidable at home for so long.
"Chelsea though had the ageless Thiago Silva plus Trevoh Chalobah and Kepa who both continued their excellent form under Potter and refused to be beaten a second time."
The Express
"Chelsea are still yet to lose a game Chalobah started and his pace and aggression was crucial in defending against the dangerous duo of Noah Okafor and Adamu," Joe Krishnan wrote. "An asset for Potter in the absence of Wesley Fofana and the 23-year-old was solid in his role."
"As long as Potter continues to deploy Sterling out of position, the winger will struggle to emphasise his importance. He is not a wing-back, but Sterling improved as the game went on with some neat passes and showed his work rate by helping Cucurella when defending."
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