UCL: Okafor spoils Chelsea party

Nigerian-born Noah Okafor and his RB Salzburg teammates spoiled Graham Potter’s first match in charge of Chelsea by claiming a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League.

Raheem Sterling’s curled strike should have handed new boss Potter lift-off on his Champions League and Blues bow.

But a mistake from Thiago Silva opened the door for Okafor to snatch a draw for Salzburg with a neat finish to cap a counter-attack.

Chelsea were back in action after the Premier League’s weekend hiatus due to the Queen’s death, but the Blues could not atone for last week’s 1-0 Champions League loss at Dinamo Zagreb.

Potter employed a clutch of formations in a shape-shifting Chelsea set-up, but 37-year-old Brazilian Silva always appeared under duress at the back of that system.

The defender conjured many a manful intervention only to slip just shy of completing a slide tackle – which allowed Salzburg to steal in and secure a leveller.

Chelsea’s one point from two matches left Potter’s men bottom of Group E, with AC Milan top on four points.

The Blues can still rectify their situation and reach the knockout stages, but will likely need to beat Milan home and away in their back-to-back matches with the Italians in October.

Chelsea sacked Thomas Tuchel last week with new owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali installing a new manager in Potter they believe will work in sync with their long-term visions and ideas.