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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Victor

Chelsea fans interrupt Graham Potter's first game to send message to Thomas Tuchel

Chelsea fans showed their support for former manager Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday night, delivering a minute's applause in honour of the German during their draw with Red Bull Salzburg.

The match was the first with Graham Potter at the helm, after the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss replaced Tuchel this week. The previous boss had been sacked barely 15 months after leading Chelsea to Champions League glory.

Tuchel's European triumph was the source of the tribute, which took place on 21 minutes to mark him winning the European trophy in 2021. A repeat this year will be a tall order, though, with the Blues taking just one point from their first two group games.

Tuchel's dismissal came after 100 games in charge. The last of those saw Chelsea beaten 1-0 by Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League opener, while they had also lost two of their first six Premier League games this term.

The former Paris Saint-Germain boss was reportedly left shocked by the decision to sack him. He had gone to the training ground the day after the Zagreb game expecting to take the day's session as normal, only to be informed that owner Todd Boehly had decided to sack him.

Boehly also acted quickly to identify and hire a replacement. Potter joined the following day, leaving a Brighton side who sat above his new employers in the table at the time of the move.

Were Chelsea too quick to sack Tuchel? Have your say in the comments section

Raheem Sterling, one of the several new signings brought in by Tuchel over the summer, scored the first goal of the Potter era. It wasn't enough for a win, though, with Noah Okafor equalising for Salzburg 15 minutes from time to leave the Premier League side bottom of their group after two games.

"We're disappointed with the result," Potter told BT Sport after the game. "I thought the boys gave everything. We scored a good goal, but lost a bit in the second half but their goalkeeper has made some good saves.

"It is what it is, we have to dust ourselves down. Personality and application was good, we will get better. We got Raheem in one-on-one situations quite often and the goal was a good result of that. It's always irritating when you concede a goal. Overall the defensive performance was quite good, it's just the little details we will have to improve.

"It has not been easy for the boys, they have responded to us really well over the last few days and it's a point we will have to take and get better. The attitude has been fantastic, no complaints apart from the fact we haven't taken three points. We'll get better."

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