Chelsea thrash Djurgarden in Sweden

Chelsea have taken a commanding lead against Swedish side Djurgarden in the first-leg semifinals of the UEFA Conference League.

The English side defeated their hosts 4-1 to at least heave a sigh of relief ahead of the return leg in England next week. 

It was also a memorable night for talented 16-year-old Reggie Walsh, who almost scored with his first touch on his European debut.

A brace from Nicolas Jackson, Jadon Sancho, and Noni Madueke were enough to put the Blues in the driving seat for the return leg in England.

Isak Alemayehu reduced the deficit for the hosts to give them hope of getting results in England.

Chelsea are the top favorite in this season’s Conference League as they continue to wreak havoc in Uefa’s third-tier galaxy.

They are only getting more dominant as they put one foot into the final in Poland with this result.

From the look of things, Real Betis and Fiorentina may be the only proper game Chelsea play to win this trophy as they avoid the only two teams with serious resources through the luck of the draw.

Chelsea needed just 12 minutes to take the lead. Jadon Sancho chested the ball down and fired towards the goal, but Marcus Danielson failed to prevent it from going past the goalkeeper.

The Blues made it two deservedly as Enzo Fernandez poked the ball into the path of Noni Madueke, who slotted it into the bottom corner.

Jackson, a substitute, punished goalkeeper Jacob Rinne for a howler as he combined with Cole Palmer, who threaded a ball through towards him.

Rinne bent to collect the ball and looked to have it under control but took his eye off it for a second, and Jackson nicked it off him to slot into an empty net.

Jackson got his brace to put the first leg beyond any doubt as he controlled the ball superbly before launching a strike into the top corner.

Tobias Gulliksen crossed the ball into the box, and Isak Alemayehu headed down into the ground, beating Filip Jorgensen in the Chelsea goal.