UEFA Champions League Round 5 Group E Match Reports

Chelsea advanced into the last 16 after ending Salzburg’s 40 unbeaten games in all competitions. The Blues were unstoppable in the first half, but this was only proven by Mateo Kovacic’s spontaneous finish: Salzburg goalkeeper Philipp Kohn made a number of good saves. And indeed, the home side managed to equalize shortly after half-time with a shot from Junior Adamu, but Kai Havertz had the last word, flicking the ball unerringly into the Kreuzeck in the 64th minute.

While both sides could have done more, every goalkeeper – Kepa Arrizabalaga and especially Philipp Kohn – both made impressive stops.

Both Chelsea goals came from the top box of the goal. Kovacic, born 120 km east of Salzburg in Linz, found the top corner with an instinctive left-footed shot, after which Koni had no chance to get us back on track.

The game lasted just 90 seconds before Chelsea planned the first shot on the Salzburg goal. A good patient shoulder pass resulted in Jorginho intercepting Haverz’s run, but Philipp Kohn narrowly caught the German’s ball in the RB goal. Kai protested against the penalty, but the referee didn’t accept the calls.

The hosts created a good chance after 15 minutes when Luka Sucic scored a one-two from his team-mates and led the Chelsea defense before firing well over Kepa’s crossbar. However, an early warning sign.

The Blues controlled the game but there were still chances as the hosts looked dangerous at the break and Maurits Kjergaor flicked a shot past Kepa’s goal as he played through Trevoch Chalobah.

At the end of the break, a good move by Chelsea almost created another chance when Kovacic played a sliding pass, but with Havertz and Aubameyang both offside, neither really capitalized on the chance.

While the first half ended in one-way traffic for Chelsea, things turned around after half-time when the hosts equalized four minutes after the restart.

Adamu stepped in to snap the ball in front of Thiago Silva before heading for goal where he was spotted with a long ball that went first over Kepa and into the bottom corner for a 1-1 draw.

RB Salzburg: 

Kohn, Dedic, Bernado, Pavlovic, Wober (Ulmer), Gouma-Douath, Seiwald, Sucic (Sesko), Kjaergaard, Adamu (Kameri), Okafor (Simic).

Unused subs: Mantl, Walke, Van Der Brempt, Piatkowski, Baidoo, Kameri, Diarra.

Chelsea: 

Arrizabalaga, Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Cucurella, Pulisic (Azpilicueta), Jorginho (c), Kovacic (Loftus-Cheek), Sterling (Ziyech), Gallagher (Mount), Havertz, Aubameyang (Broja).

Unused subs: Bettinelli, Mendy, Chilwell, Zakaria, Chukwuemeka.

Referee: Sando Scharer 

Venue: Salzburg (Stadion Salzburg)

Milan’s excellent performance in the second half helped them finish second in Group E and ended Dinamo’s play-off hopes. Shortly before the break, the guests took the lead thanks to a header from Matteo Gabbia, and at the beginning of the second half they scored points from Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud. An own goal by Robert Lubicic exacerbated a bad night for Dynamo, who are now third in the group.

Matteo Gabbia scored his first goal for Milan when they beat Dinamo Zagreb 4-0, just one point clear of the Champions League semi-finals.

Chelsea’s victory over Salzburg on Tuesday gave Stefano Pioli’s team a chance to finish second in Group E and they enjoyed it with both hands.

Gabbia gave them the lead in the first half and they ran away in the second half when Rafael Leão doubled his score before Olivier Giroud added a third from a penalty kick.

A bizarre own goal by Robert Ljubičić sealed Dynamo’s night when their hopes of qualifying were finally dashed as Milan only needed to avoid defeat in the next week’s decider final against Salzburg to qualify.

Simon Kjaer and Charles De Quetelar blocked shots on goal in Milan’s brilliant start before Gabbia came to the rescue with a wink at Mislav Oršić who shot on goal.

Dominik Livakovic parried Giroud’s header and Josip Misic valiantly blocked what looked to be a goal by Ante Rebic, but the Serie A champions took the lead in the 39th minute.

The advantage came from an unexpected source: Gabbia punished a slight defensive weakness by deflecting Sandro Tonali’s free-kick from close range with a header.

Leão gave Milan a break five minutes into the second half, showing good pace, entering the box too easily from the left and taking advantage of a poor defense on the right.

Milan are in full swing and score their third goal just before the hour mark as Ljubicic knocks Tonali down and Giroud’s penalty hits the top left corner.

Things went from bad to worse for Ljubičić when Giroud failed to execute Leão’s Livewire cut and the ball hit the midfielder’s shoulder before hitting his own net

Dinamo Zagreb: 

Livaković, Ristovski (58′ Špikić), Šutalo, Perić, Moharrami, Ivanušec, Mišić (Bulat), Ademi (57′ Baturina), Ljubičić, Petković (57′ Drmić), Oršić (Bočkaj)  

Unused subs: Zagorac; Lauritsen, Štefulj, Théophile-Catherine, Marin Emreli, Menalo

AC Milan:

Tătăruşanu, Kalulu, Kjær, Gabbia, Hernández (70′ Ballo-Touré),Bennacer (70′ Pobega), Tonali; Rebić, De Ketelaere (52′ Krunić), Leão (70′ Messias); Giroud (81′ Origi). 

Unused subs:: Jungdal, Nava; Coubis; Díaz

Referee: Szymon Marciniak 

Venue: Zagreb (Stadion Maksimir)