Chelsea 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb: Zakaria nets on debut as Blues progress into last-16 with victory

Chelsea capped off their Champions League group stage campaign with a win against Dinamo Zagreb.

Graham Potter's side went 1-0 down in the opening stages of the tie as Bruno Petkovic headed in after some poor defending from the hosts.

However, Raheem Sterling was able to equalise for Chelsea just minutes later, before Denis Zakaria scored on his debut with half an hour gone.

The Blues pushed for a third throughout much of the second half but were ultimately unable to add to their tally.

As a result of their win against RB Salzburg last week, Chelsea had already secured top spot in Group E of the Champions League.

However, it was a much needed victory given their result against Brighton at the weekend, with the west London side now back to winning ways

Juventus loanee Zakaria was named in the starting lineup by Potter, with the Swiss international gaining his first minutes in a Chelsea shirt since his summer arrival on loan from Juventus.

The Blues would enjoy a lot of the ball in the opening minutes of the game, but it was Zagreb who took the lead at Stamford Bridge.

Some poor defending allowed Petkovic to head in from close range, ensuring Potter's side went a goal down for the second game running.

Kai Havertz soon found Sterling with a wonderful ball towards the back post, but the latter was unable to guide his effort into the back of the net.

However, the England international soon levelled the tie as he found the bottom corner from inside the area after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's back-heel.

Sterling could have grabbed himself a second just before the half hour mark, but Zakaria was soon there to score a debut goal.

The midfielder was able to fire in from the edge of the area, with Zagreb failing to clear his shot off the line.

Chelsea only had to deal with one Zagreb attack on the counter throughout the rest of the first half, and they went into the break in the lead.

Potter chose not to make any changes to the team at the beginning of the second half as his side looked to take further control of the tie.

Edouard Mendy was forced to make a strong save down low to his left soon after the break from a Zagreb corner, with the goalkeeper doing well to prevent an equaliser.

Aubameyang came so close to scoring Chelsea's third of the night, but his effort rattled against the crossbar.

Havertz was next to have a chance on goal for the hosts, but they still couldn't find the target once again.

With just over an hour gone, Potter opted to make some substitutions; Thiago Silva, Conor Gallagher and Armando Broja were all brought on for Kalidou Koulibaly, Havertz and Aubameyang.

Debut hero Zakaria was soon taken off after his superb efforts in the midfield, and the 25-year-old was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

As the rain began to fall heavily in west London, the Blues looked comfortable enough to see out the result on their final Champions League evening of 2022.

Christian Pulisic was the next player to come off the bench for Chelsea, with the American replacing Sterling for the final few minutes of the match.

The clock ticked towards full-time and the hosts were happy to see out the result under the lights at Stamford Bridge.

Potter's side exit Group E top of the pile and will await their next opponents for the Champions League round of 16.