Chelsea continued their quest to become the first club to win all of UEFA’s major competitions against Djurgarden, who were playing Premier League opposition for the first time. With his side also in the hunt for a Champions League qualification spot, Enzo Maresca named a rotated starting XI, although that didn’t stop the Blues from dominating the opening 45 minutes.
Clear-cut chances weren’t in abundance, but the visitors took the lead inside the opening quarter-hour when Marcus Danielsson turned Jadon Sancho’s shot into his own net.
Noni Madueke should have doubled his team’s lead with around 30 minutes on the clock, yet was thwarted by a brilliant Jacob Rinne save.
Still, the England international was not to be denied, slotting home from close range shortly before the break.
The hosts, meanwhile, barely threatened prior to the interval, although Filip Jorgensen did need to be alert to keep out Tokmac Nguen’s deflected attempt.
After the restart, the Swedish outfit upped the ante and threatened to halve the deficit on several occasions. First, August Priske arrowed a shot from distance narrowly wide of the post, while Jorgensen’s fingertip save stopped Adam Stahl from heading home.
Ultimately, though, Chelsea moved through the gears and netted twice in six minutes to put themselves in total control.
Maresca shuffled his pack at half-time, with Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer being introduced, and the former applied the finishing touch to both strikes. For the first, he took advantage of a mix-up between Ståhl and Rinne to tap into an empty net, before hammering into the top corner from the edge of the box shortly after.
To Djurgarden's credit, they rallied to pull one back through substitute Isak Alemayehu’s header at the back post and looked dangerous as they went in search of more goals, but by that point the damage had already been done.
Chelsea were able to see out the remainder of the match with their three-goal lead intact, meaning they are still unbeaten against Swedish opposition. At Stamford Bridge next week, it will take a monumental effort from Djurgarden to stop Maresca and co from progressing to the showpiece.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)