Dewsbury-Hall does it again, getting the only goal as Chelsea avoid any drama in reaching the Conference League final

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Chelsea (1) 1 v Djurgården (0) 0

(Chelsea win 5-1 on aggregate)

Dewsbury-Hall 38

By Kaz Mochlinski at Stamford Bridge

UEFA Conference League

Semi-Final, Second Leg

Chelsea completed the task of reaching the Conference League final by defeating Djurgården 1-0 at home in the second leg of their semi-final, with a remarkable lack of drama for this stage of a major European competition.

The Blues will travel to Wrocław in South-Western Poland at the end of the month to face Real Betis in the final, as they attempt to become the first club to complete the full set of all the European football trophies.

It would be a unique achievement, after winning the Champions League, Europa League / UEFA Cup, and European Cup Winners’ Cup previously, as well as the UEFA Super Cup. Now Chelsea are only one match away from adding the Conference League.

Yet there was no real excitement or enthusiasm for the feat, with the players not lingering on the pitch, as the stadium emptied rapidly. The Madness anthem ‘One Step Beyond’, marking big European victories at Stamford Bridge, was not heard this time.

The final will matter much more, especially for Enzo Maresca, as the Chelsea head coach comes up against an opponent from the city where he made most impact as a player, in Seville, and against his “Football Dad”, in Manuel Pellegrini.

Maresca spent four years playing for Real Betis’s great local rivals, Sevilla, scoring the winning goal once in their big local derby, and triumphing twice in the Europa League, plus also lifting the UEFA Super Cup.

And his connections are even deeper, as he added: “I met my wife in Seville. She’s from Seville. My first son was born in Seville.” However, he is aware that inevitably he is not loved in the Real Betis sections of the city.

Later on, Maresca moved to Malaga, where he played under Pellegrini for two years, before subsequently spending a further two years as his assistant coach at West Ham United. They formed a strong and lasting bond.

“He is like my professional dad” says Maresca in gratitude to the veteran Chilean coach, who first suggested that the current Chelsea boss should consider coaching after his playing career ended, and who first brought him to London.

Following four years in Seville and then four years with Pellegrini, the prospect of playing in Wrocław in a European final against Real Betis and their familiar coach is an understandably emotional one for Maresca.

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There was no such significance to the semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, which was highlighted by a 16-year-old being given his full debut by Chelsea in the last four of a European club competition.

Reggie Walsh became the youngest player to appear for Chelsea since 1967 when he was brought on as a substitute in the away leg at Djurgården, and he now started for the first time, playing the whole of the 90 minutes.

He impressed in a strange side, with two full-backs making up the midfield. Among 10 changes from the team that beat the Premier League champions Liverpool at the weekend, solely Marc Cucurella remained - and he only lasted until half-time.

With Cucurella alongside Reece James in a midfield double-pivot, Chelsea had plenty of possession, but, as so often under Maresca, very frustratingly they did exceedingly little from it, not notably testing their inexperienced visitors at the outset.

The Djurgården fans provided an extremely accurate verdict on Chelsea’s early performance - and for most of this year - when they loudly sang “What the f***, what the f***, what the f***ing hell is that?”

The Blues’ saviour once more was their Conference League specialist, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who repeated his accomplishment from the last 16 at the Bridge. Having given Chelsea a 1-0 win over København, he now did it again, against Djurgården.

On this occasion, Dewsbury-Hall did not wait until the second half to score the only goal of the game. To overcome København, he struck eight minutes after the interval, while he managed to slot the ball into the Djurgården net eight minutes before half-time.

Dewsbury-Hall is the solitary member of the Blues’ squad to appear in every one of the club’s 14 matches in the Conference League. Out of his 18 starts for Chelsea, 13 have come in the competition - and all four of his goals.

There was desperate disappointment for Dewsbury-Hall in 2022 when he was part of the Leicester City side beaten by José Mourinho’s Roma in the Conference League semi-finals. Three years later he has gone on to the final now with Chelsea.

There will be no one more delighted to win the trophy. But was the Conference League really what Dewsbury-Hall dreamt of when the call came through from Chelsea last summer while he was at the Brighton & Hove Albion training ground undergoing a medical?

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The outcome of this semi-final was essentially decided in the first leg in Stockholm. However, since losing to Legia Warszawa in their previous Conference League home game in the quarter-finals, Chelsea have a 100% winning record in all competitions.

And they stretched it to five consecutive victories while resting almost every one of their first choice players, finishing with a 16-year-old, two 17-year-olds, and two 19-year-olds on the pitch.

Djurgården identically at the end had their own five teenagers in opposition, with four 18-year-olds and one 19-year-old, although, unlike Chelsea, it was out of necessity and not through any preference.

The Swedes have struggled to combine their great European exploits with domestic demands, dropping down to 11th place in the Allsvenskan league, scoring just three goals this season, including one from a penalty and one own goal.

So there was little to celebrate for the Premier League club after getting past Djurgården. Plus it was still a school night for Walsh, who had to head home in reasonable time in advance of returning to revising for his GCSEs in the morning.

In fact, if there had not been numerous Swedish supporters infiltrating the home stands at Stamford Bridge again, just as happened with Legia’s too, there would anyway have been hardly anyone still present at the final whistle.

Actually an odd discrepancy occurred between the official crowd figures announced by Chelsea and UEFA, of 37,428 and 32,464 respectively, for which there was no immediate explanation forthcoming.

The club confirmed only that an investigation would be instigated into the failure to prevent so many away fans from obtaining tickets for Chelsea areas. Yet the visitors provided almost all of the colour and noise on the night.

In spite of their Conference League run being over, neither the Djurgården players and staff, nor their endlessly applauding supporters, wanted the evening to end, as they shared a prolonged period of joint celebrations in one corner of the Bridge.

They may have lost, but Djurgården gained themselves a niche in football history as the first club from Sweden to reach semi-finals of a major UEFA competition since Göteborg in the UEFA Cup in 1986-87.

The travelling fans singing a Swedish version of The Pogues’ ballad ‘Dirty Old Town’ in the later stages of the semi-final will not be easily forgotten. The brilliant backing of København, Legia and now Djurgården has been a highlight of Chelsea’s season.

So far, at least. There is still a visit to Wrocław and a European final to come.

Chelsea: (4-2-3-1) Jørgensen - Gusto, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Acheampong - James (Chalobah 70), Cucurella (Mheuka 46) - Dewsbury-Hall, Walsh, Sancho (Antwi 70) - George

Djurgården: (4-3-3) Rinne - Kosugi, Tenho, Une (Danielson 63), Bergh - Oyedele - Finndell (Selfvén 86), Stensson (Vucenovic Persson 81), Gulliksen (Atlee Manneh 86) - Priske, Haarala (Alemayehu Mulugeta 63), Nguen

Attendance: 37,428

In memory of Paul Lagan RIP, remembered by Chelsea FC at the match v Djurgården

Photo: ©️ Capital Football