The midfielder netted his third Blues goal, all in this competition, having bustled his way into the box and finished with aplomb.
It crowned a good start to the second half after what had been an uneventful opening 45 minutes at Stamford Bridge, in which our visitors from Denmark posed what little threat there was.
Having established a two-goal aggregate lead, we saw out the game comfortably and could have added to our tally. The last eight awaits next month.
Six changes
Enzo Maresca altered half his outfielders and the goalkeeper, with Filip Jorgensen returning between the posts in the week his received his maiden senior Denmark call-up.
In defence, Josh Acheampong, Trevoh Chalobah, and Benoit Badiashile came into the side, with Tyrique George and Dewsbury-Hall the other fresh faces.
The bench included 16-year-old Reggie Walsh for the first time, as well as the more experienced quartet of Reece James, Marc Cucurella, Cole Palmer, and Christopher Nkunku.
It was a cagey beginning to the contest at a chilly Stamford Bridge. Acheampong, playing left-back, made a couple of early driving runs deep into enemy territory with no reward. With 12 minutes played, the youngster made a superb block to stop Mohamed Elyounoussi’s shot testing Jorgensen.
The Chelsea performance was disjointed, and Maresca used a break in play midway through the half to address his players by the touchline. One burst from George had the crowd excited, but creating a good goalscoring opportunity proved as difficult as it was a week ago in Denmark.
A couple of minutes before the interval, Caicedo stole possession on halfway and the loose ball rebounded into Pedro Neto’s path. He scurried away and went to ground under pressure from a white shirt, with his appeal for a penalty ignored by the Romanian referee.
Upping the tempo
For the second half, Maresca replaced Acheampong and Enzo Fernandez with Cucurella and Palmer.
Chelsea came out with renewed energy. Palmer immediately showed his quality with a teasing cross that Chalobah couldn’t steer on target, and then Sancho thumped a shot goalwards that forced Diant Ramaj into his first save of the night.
On 55 minutes, our positive start to the second half was rewarded. Dewsbury-Hall received a pass from Palmer and with a combination of skill and persistence forced his way past a host of white shirts. One-on-one with Ramaj, he finished confidently across the visitors’ keeper. 3-1 on aggregate now.
Neto danced his way into a shooting position 20 yards out and caused Ramaj some worry as we sought a second that would end the tie once and for all.
Nkunku entered the fray with a quarter of the game remaining and had Ramaj at full stretch as he tried to smuggle the ball past him on the angle.
With time running out, Neto led the charge from the edge of his box and picked out Palmer, whose shot was blocked. Neto then made way for Genesis Antwi, the 17-year-old making his Chelsea debut.
Copenhagen’s best chance of the game arrived in the second minute of stoppage time, but Rodrigo Huescas blazed over in front of the Shed. Palmer then shot too close to Ramaj with the final meaningful action of a tie in which Chelsea never hit top gear but did enough to advance.
What it means…
Our eighth European win in a row books us a place in the last eight, where we will play either Legia Warsaw or Molde. That tie is in extra-time as this report was published.
With Tottenham winning 3-1 in their Europa League tie, we will be away in the first leg next month.
What’s next…
The Blues make the short journey to the Emirates on Sunday for a big Premier League derby against Arsenal. Kick-off is at 1.30pm. The final international break of the season follows.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Chalobah, Tosin, Badiashile, Acheampong (Cucurella h/t); Caicedo (James 79), Fernandez (c) (Palmer h/t); George, Dewsbury-Hall, Sancho (Nkunku 65); Neto (Antwi 90)
Unused subs Sanchez, Bergstrom, Murray-Campbell, Colwill, Amougou, Walsh, Mheuka
Scorer Dewsbury-Hall 55
Booked Cucurella 69, Tosin 85
Copenhagen (4-4-1-1): Ramaj; Diks, Pereira, Hatzidiakos, Meling; Huescas, Clem (Falk 77), Froholdt (Mattsson 83), Achouri; Claesson (c) (Chiakha 59); Elyounoussi (J.Larsson 59)
Unused subs Trott, Runarsson, Garananga, Lerager, Robert, Gocholeishvili, Delaney
Booked Achouri 76
Crowd 35,280
Referee Radu Petrescu
