Chelsea progress in Europa Conference League courtesy of Dewsbury-Hall winner

Chelsea progress in Europa Conference League courtesy of Dewsbury-Hall winner

Chelsea have advanced to the last eight of the Europa Conference League after beating FC Copenhagen 3-1 on aggregate.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored the only goal of the second leg after Chelsea won the first leg 2-1 in Denmark last week.

Cole Palmer started on the bench after missing a penalty against Leicester City on Sunday - his first failed spot-kick in the Premier League.

The England international did not train in the build up due to a sickness bug and only returned to training on Wednesday after playing 73 minutes against Ruud van Nistelrooy's men.

Blues head coach Enzo Maresca is confident Palmer can bounce back from his penalty miss. He said: "Cole is going to miss more penalties.

"I don't have any doubt in the future he is going to miss more penalties but he is going to score more penalties. I don't think it affects him in a negative way."

It was the first time Palmer was left out of a Chelsea starting XI since January 11 against Morecambe in the FA Cup third round.

Without their talisman, it was not the best start for the Premier League side. They failed to register a shot in the first half.

Copenhagen presented Pedro Neto with a one-on-one opportunity but he refused to pull the trigger, running with his head down and throwing himself to the ground trying to win a penalty instead.

At half-time, the Danish side had more corners, four shots, one shot on target, only 40 fewer passes than their hosts and had committed fewer fouls, while possession was far from one-sided at 54-46.

If any team looked like scoring, it most certainly was not Chelsea. And with Cole Palmer going through his paces down the touchline, it was no surprise to see him introduced for the second half. Marc Cucurella also came on, with Enzo Fernandez and Josh Acheampong relocating to the bench.

The Blues attempted their first shot two minutes into the second period and Palmer was unsurprisingly involved, crossing to Trevoh Chalobah at the back post.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored the opener on his seventh Europa Conference League start of the season, grabbing his third goal in the competition.

The former Leicester midfielder wriggled through the Copenhagen defence and somehow ended up with only the goalkeeper to beat, blasting it hard and low across goal.

Chelsea were much improved in the second half to win 3-1 on aggregate and advance to the quarter-finals of the Conference League, where they will face Molde or Legia Warsaw, who are currently in extra-time.

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