Chelsea 1-0 Copenhagen (3-1 agg): Rare Dewsbury-Hall goal books Conference League quarter-final place | OneFootball

Chelsea booked their place in the Conference League quarter-finals after overcoming Copenhagen in the Round of 16.

Enzo Maresca's side claimed a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night, courtesy of a second half goal from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, to seal a 3-1 aggregate win to progress.

It was a dismal and uninspiring first half for Chelsea. Maresca's side failed to have a shot on goal, with their biggest claim coming when Pedro Neto fell to the ground asking for a penalty, but they were quickly waved away.

With Chelsea still holding an aggregate lead at the interval, Maresca had seen enough and brought on Marc Cucurella and Cole Palmer to try to liven things up at Stamford Bridge. Josh Acheampong, one of their brighter players in the first half, and Enzo Fernandez were brought off as a result.

Chelsea had their first shot of the game within three minutes of the second half restarting. Palmer's excellent free-kick delivery found Trevoh Chalobah at the back post, but he was unable to capitalise to steer an effort on target.

Jadon Sancho had Chelsea's first shot on target of the evening shortly after, forcing Copenhagen goalkeeper Diant Ramaj into parrying his effort away.

Chelsea found their opener to double the aggregate lead through Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall 10 minutes into the second half. Sheer persistence from the 26-year-old saw space open up inside the box and he made no mistake firing past Ramaj to ease any building nerves inside Stamford Bridge.

Dewsbury-Hall celebrating Chelsea's opener to give the hosts some breathing space. / IMAGO / Pro Sports Images

After going untouched following a driving run, Palmer almost doubled the hosts' lead 10 minutes later with a curling effort goalwards, but, frustratingly for the England international, his effort went the wrong side of the goal.

Maresca's focus started to switch to Sunday's London derby against Arsenal as the tie headed towards its conclusion, with Reece James, who recovered from illness, replacing Moises Caicedo.

A first-team debut was handed out to 17-year-old Genesis Antwi in the final minutes in the capital. A proud moment for the Cobham youngster, who replaced Pedro Neto.

Chelsea held on to keep a clean sheet in the capital to clinch victory on the night and booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Conference League.

It's four wins in a row for Maresca's side in all competitions, with the Blues building momentum ahead of a crucial part of the season. Arsenal and Spurs await Chelsea in the Premier League next, two huge fixtures which could define their league season.