Two superb goals from Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz handed Chelsea victory away to Red Bull Salzburg and sent Graham Potter's side through to the last 16 of Europe's elite competition.
Chelsea bounce back to winning ways following draw against Man Utd over the weekend.
Chelsea manager Graham Potter heaped praise on the Blues' 'fantastic performance' after they played out a 2-1 win over Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
The west London club started the game well and got their reward via Austrian-born Mateo Kovacic, who broke the deadlock with a superb volley in the 24th minute.
Chelsea had more chances to kill the game off, but the in-form Salzburg keeper Philipp Kohn denied striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang four times while Jorginho saw his header cleared off the goalline by Adamu.
And three minutes into the second half, Junior Adamu equalised as he finished off an awesome pass by Maximilian Wober.
However, attacking midfield maestro Kai Havertz ensured Chelsea left the Red Bull Arena with a victory when the German's curling finish found the net in the 64th minute.
Die Roten Bullen came close to levelling the score again, but Brazil defender Thiago Silva cleared a last-gasp chance from Strahinja Pavlovic off the line, meaning Chelsea currently top Group E with 10 points from five games with one match left to play.
'Blues showed a lot of courage.'
Speaking to BT Sport after his side booked a place in the last 16 of Europe's elite competition, Potter said: "I'm delighted, it was a fantastic performance from the players. They showed a lot of courage with the atmosphere and the pressure Salzburg put you under.
"We created chances and it could have been more than one at half-time. But one mistake, or one action, and you're punished at this level. But it was a great goal from Kai and we deserved to win.
"Overall I thought we played well and created chances scored two good goals, and responded well to a setback. I'm delighted for the players.
"I thought our structure of playing wide was quite good, it got Raheem [Sterling] and Christian [Pulisic] into good areas, and them defending wide allowed Conor [Gallagher] and Mateo [Kovacic] to get in.
"It was not easy because they defended well, but it was a brilliant performance."
Asked about his thoughts on the quality of the two Chelsea goals from Kovacic and Havertz, the Englishman replied: "It makes my job a lot easier when they can do that. I'm pleased for both of them."
When Chelsea manager Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel in September, he saw his new side draw their home game against Red Bull Salzburg [his debut match as boss].
At the time, Chelsea had just one point from their opening two UEFA Champions League games, though the win over Serie A giants AC Milan, and tonight's triumph, puts Chelsea in a better position for the last 16 draw due to take place on November the 7th.
'Credit to players for turnaround.'
"I wish I could say I've found the Champions League to be easy," Potter joked.
"Credit to the players, they have been fantastic. The first Salzburg game was getting to know the players, the two Milan games were important in showing our quality and tonight was a massive win."
Chelsea play Potter's former club, Brighton and Hove, next in the Premier League this weekend, and the boss is expecting 'another tough game'.
"It's another tough game, I know the team very well, I know the quality and I look forward to going back there," he concluded.
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