Chelsea 1-1 Salzburg at Stamford Bridge
Two Nigerian-born stars were at Stamford Bridge to help Austria’s champions; Red Bull Salzburg frustrate Chelsea to a major 1-1 draw in their champions league Group E game Wednesday night, Edwin Emeanua reports for Sports Joust.
Chukwubuike Griddy Junior Adamu and Noah Okafor were integral to Salzburg’s stoic display in earning a well-deserved famous draw against their more illustrious English opposition in a European top club football competition.
Chelsea failed to convert their domineering presence during long swathes of the match to full advantage, only to capitulate to a gut-wrenching equalizing goal by the visitors. The result ruined new head coach Graham Potter’s much-talked-about debut and left Chelsea still rooted to the bottom of the group ahead of their crucial game with AC Milan on the teams’ next champions league matchday.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring for Chelsea in the 48th minute following a goalless first half. Soon after, Red Bull Salzburg began to loosen Chelsea’s iron grip on the game, carrying out sporadic raids for an equalizer until finally hitting the target in the 75th minute of play.
Okafor coolly polished off a counter-attack by aiming his shot through Azpilicueta’s legs and past Kepa. Thiago Silva’s awkward, lax marking in the box allowed Adamu to cross for Okafor to score.
Chelsea will need time to add some grit to their team to be able to begin the push for satisfactory outcomes if their ambition is to advance out of the group. However, with their next match coming up on October 1, Graham Potter may still have the time to add some steel to his newly acquired Chelsea armada.
