CHELSEA are all cisterns go in Europe thanks to Kiernan Dewbury-Hall.
The midfielder’s second half goal sealed his team’s passage into the quarter finals of the Conference League after almost an hour of frustrating football.
Prior to the 55th minute breakthrough, Chelsea had stunk the place out, though it had nothing to do with the lingering pong of star man Cole Palmer’s diarrhoea from the weekend.
Dewsbury-Hall’s well placed shot was only the second on target following a first half in which they failed to register a shot of any kind.
But the £30 million signing from Leicester last summer has yet to play a full 90 minutes in the Premier League this season so it’s no wonder he might be a bit rusty.
His goal was enough to put a two-goal cushion between the two teams and ensure that Chelsea’s last remaining hope of silverware this campaign remains on course.
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It was also just the thing to avoid the prospect of extra time and the drain that would place on boss Enzo Maresca’s squad just three days before a tough trip to Arsenal which looms this weekend.
Maresca has often expressed sympathy for Dewsbury-Hall over his lack of action in the big league.
Instead he has been largely restricted to the third-rate Conference League and domestic cups, where he has done a sound job and now scored three times.
And with Chelsea’s Italian head coach willing to rotate his team selection week by week, Dewsbury-Hall must be knocking on the door of the first team.
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Especially as The Blues have hardly been convincing in their drive for a top four or five finish and a return to Champions League football next season.
Once Dewsbury-Hall had broken the deadlock, Chelsea could press forward with more confidence and in more relaxed mode.
Think gutrot victim Palmer before and after he had to rush off the pitch on Sunday to head straight down the tunnel and pay a visit to the little boys’ room.
Even Maresca cut an agitated figure prior to the breakthrough goal.
At one point slapping one hand into the other in despair at some of his team’s play.
Yet he seems happy to jig and rejig his players around, continuing to play Hokey Cokey with his keepers and drafted in Filip Jorgensen in place of Robert Sanchez.
Having announced the Dane as his number one recently, he was dropped for last week’s first leg and Sunday’s Premier League win over Leicester.
And with a sickness bug having staged a mini rampage through the squad in the past few days, illness victims Cole Palmer, Reece James and Christopher Nkunku were left in reserve as substitutes.
Chelsea’s Premier League squad is the youngest by far this season and the club’s youth-first policy went to new extremes with the inclusion on the bench of teenager Reggie Walsh.
At 16 years and 144 days old, academy boy Walsh was in line to become the second youngest Chelsea debutant of all time being Ian Hamilton.
Hamilton was 16yrs and 138 days in 1967 when he became an instant hero by scoring against Tottenham while making his professional bow.
And with six changes overall to the starting line up which eventually overcame the second worst team in the Premier League at the weekend, there was a slight mix ‘n match feel to Maresca’s team.
And with Chelsea a yard off the pace they could mustered a shot either on or off target by the break. Not what Maresca wanted.
With a visit to one of their toughest away grounds coming next, Chelsea were humiliated 5-0 at the Emirates stadium last season, he wanted this game put to bed early.
Instead, the frustration among the fans following the weekend’s grinding win picked up from where it left off.
Mis-placed passes and lack of a cutting edge let the visitors off the hook time and time again as a particularly inexperienced team struggled to produce some joined-up football
Copenhagen were no better. But at least they did manage to mount one threat on the goal late in the first half when Viktor Claesson headed goalbound from a corner and Jorgensen had to save under his crossbar.
When the half time whistle blew a few moments later there was an audible smattering of boos from fed-up fans, grumpy at the lack of decisiveness.
The muffled jeers turned to cheers when Maresca switched things up and made two half time substitutions – bringing on left back Cucurella and Palmer in a bid to inject some energy.
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The tempo quickly ramped up with Enzo Fernandez hitting the home side’s first meaningful shot of the night which was beaten away by keeper Diant Ramaj.
And Maresca was finally smiling when Dewsbury-Hall stayed on his feet while ploughing through the Danish defence to rifle home the shot which sealed the tie and Chelsea’s passage into the last eight next month.
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CHELSEA are into the Conference League quarter-finals after beating Copenhagen 1-0.
A rare moment of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall magic and two half-time subs igniting the game and the crowd were the difference.
Cole Palmer’s half-time introduction alongside Marc Cucurella certainly injected some energy into the Chelsea attack, but he was still unable to break his run of poor form in this one.
Enzo Maresca and his men will be hoping that small issue is fixed before they face Legia Warsaw in the next round.
Check out our full Chelsea player ratings.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
