Djurgarden 1-4 Chelsea: Nicolas Jackson scores brace off bench as Blues close in on Conference League final | OneFootball

Chelsea continue what has been an inevitable march to the Conference League final

Easy work: Nicolas Jackson scored twice in the second-half to put Chelsea in complete control

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The job felt near enough done by half-time of the first leg, by which point Jadon Sancho had opened the scoring and Noni Madueke then doubled the lead, both benefitting from Enzo Fernandez assists.

The introduction of Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah for the second-half did little for already slim hopes the hosts had of mounting a comeback, and that particular mountain they had to climb had soon grown in height.

The home fans continued to create a brilliant atmosphere and they got the goal their efforts deserved when Isak Alemayehu arrived at the back post to head into the ground and beyond Filip Jorgensen, off the underside of the bar.

It feels unlikely that will have any significant impact on the outcome of the tie, though, as Chelsea head back to Stamford Bridge with a three-goal advantage, knowing a final clash with either Real Betis or Fiorentina is almost certainly just 90 minutes away.

Much of the talk in the build-up had been on the artificial pitch, which had the effect of slowing down the ball and limiting its bounce. Both the Djurgarden manager Jani Honkavaara and members of his squad had recently criticised the surface but it was Chelsea who struggled at first as the players got used to the pitch of the ball.

Against stronger opposition it might have been more of an issue, but Djurgarden were a poor second best throughout and Chelsea stamped their superiority on the tie in the 12th minute.

Enzo Fernandez's cross was flighted too high for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall but there waiting at the far post was Sancho who took the ball under control, stood up his man and hit a shot that deflected into the corner off defender Marcus Danielson.

The first half had passed with near total Chelsea dominance and they doubled their lead before the break.

Madueke had been their liveliest threat down the left, getting in behind the back line and cutting back two decent crosses that were shovelled away. The third time, he did it all by himself, collecting Fernandez's pass before driving the ball inside Rinne at his near post.

Hampus Findell fired a half-volley a hair's breadth wide of a post from a corner, then Adam Stahl came as close as anyone in Djurgarden blue to scoring, getting across his defender and glancing a header goalwards that drew an excellent one-handed stop from Jorgensen.

It would be Djurgarden's last stab at reviving the tie and by the hour mark they trailed by three. Jackson had broken his long scoring drought last time out against Everton, and after coming off the bench here he was given the simple task of walking the ball in following a mix-up in the hosts' defence.

His second and Chelsea's fourth was a grander affair, the striker belting the ball into the top corner from outside the box.

Better organisation in the box might have prevented Alemayehu from heading in to make it 4-1 and giving home fans some slim recompense for their ceaseless vocals.