Graham Potter began his Chelsea managerial reign with a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge to RB Salzburg, leaving the two times champions with a difficult task of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages.
The former Brighton coach made three changes to the side that lost 1-0 in Zagreb under former coach Thomas Tuchel, with Marc Cucurella, Thiago Silva and Jorginho replacing Ben Chilwell, Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana respectively.
Raheem Sterling gave the home team the lead in the 48 minutes with a composed curling effort in what was the winger’s fourth goal of the season since moving to Chelsea from Manchester City.
Maybe Chelsea could have been awarded a penalty in the first half as Mateo Kovacic’s header came off the hand of a defender in the area but referee Ivan Kruzliak chose to play on.
But the Austrian side equalised on 75 minutes after Thiago Silva missed a tackle, allowing Noah Okafor to pounce on a low cross by Junior Adamu.
Hakim Ziyech came close to winning the contest in the closing stages but his low shot was thwarted by the outstretching leg of goalkeeper Phillip Koehn.
Now the Blues play Italian Champions AC Milan next, in a game Graham Potter can not afford to drop further points. Milan had earlier defeated Dynamo Zagreb by 3-1, a result that leaves Chelsea rooted to the bottom of Group E with just a point after two matches.
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