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Goals from Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke and a brace from Nicholas Jackson gave Chelsea a comfortable 4-1 win over Swedish side Djurgarden on a tricky artificial pitch in the first leg of their Conference League semi-final on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Sancho opened the scoring in the 12th minute, taking possession just outside the six-yard box before cutting inside to shoot, and defender Marcus Danielsson’s attempt to clear only helped the ball into the back of the net, briefly silencing the passionate home crowd.

Madueke doubled their lead before the break with a controlled first-time finish, stroking home a pass from Enzo Fernandez, with the home side's Tokmac Nguen going close in first-half stoppage time with a rare effort on target for Djurgarden.

With the game under control and one eye on Sunday's Premier League game against Liverpool, Enzo Maresca made four changes at the break, and substitute Jackson made the most of a defensive mix-up to score in the 59th minute, according to Reuters.

Tottenham Hotspur put aside their woeful domestic season with a 3-1 home victory against Norway's Bodo/Glimt leaving them within sight of the Europa League final on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Brennan Johnson's headed goal inside the opening minute paved the way for Ange Postecoglou's Premier League strugglers and James Maddison doubled their lead with a smart finish in the 34th minute after controlling a long pass.

Dominic Solanke's cooly-taken 61st minute penalty, given for a foul by Fredrik Sjovold on Cristian Romero, put the hosts completely in control of the semi-final.

Bodo/Glimt, the first Norwegian club to reach a European semi-final, did not manage a shot on target for the first 83 minutes but there was a late twist as captain Ulrik Saltnes's deflected effort gave them hope for next week's second leg on their artificial pitch inside the Arctic Circle, according to Reuters.

MS Dhoni has blamed the batters after Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) four-wicket loss against Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday. With the loss, the Dhoni-led CSK are now eliminated from the playoff race, The Times of India reported.

Sam Curran's 88 helped hosts CSK reach a competitive 190 all out, despite Punjab Kings' Yuzvendra Chahal taking a hat-trick. Curran (88 off 47 balls, including 9 fours and 4 sixes) found good support from Dewald Brevis (32 off 26 balls, including 2 fours and 1 six) as CSK put a fighting total on the board.

"Yes, a bit demanding from the batters, but I feel we could've got slightly more. I feel we need to take our catches," he said.

Dhoni showered praise on Curran and Brevis as they put on a 78-run fourth-wicket stand and turned up the heat on the PBKS bowling, according to The Times of India.

The Italian side raced into a two-goal lead with superb strikes from Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries, before the unstoppable Lamine Yamal pulled Barca back into it with a sublime solo effort, AFP reported.

Ferran Torres levelled for the five-time champions and although Inter nosed ahead through Dumfries again, a Yann Sommer own goal left the tie on a knife-edge at the halfway stage.

"Letting in that many goals (here) is unacceptable, but we also have to give Inter credit, they did very well," said Raphinha, whose fierce drive forced the own goal.

"The important thing is we leave with a result where everything can happen."

Despite losing three domestic games in a row and seeing their treble hopes crumble, Inter showed resilience and quality in Catalonia, according to AFP.