Liam Rosenior made a mess, cleaned it up and left Naples praying that Cole Palmer’s injury woes are over. All over the place during a wretched first half, an inspired comeback had Chelsea celebrating at full time. They had looked to Palmer for inspiration and, although the attacker was kept in reserve until the second half, he did enough during his time on the pitch to show why Chelsea have responded to suggestions that their main man is pining for a return to Manchester by branding him untouchable.

It was a cutting cameo from the player whose virtuoso brilliance downed Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final last summer. Introduced with Chelsea 2-1 down against Napoli and staring at the prospect of a two-leg playoff to reach the last 16 of the Champions League, Palmer was minimalistic but impactful. The 23-year-old’s presence alone was enough to restore order and, even if he is still not in peak condition, his first assists of a season disrupted by an array of niggles were a reminder of what Chelsea have been missing while their best player has been recovering from nagging groin and thigh complaints.

Liverpool are having to stomach “a very bad cocktail” in the Premier League of wasted chances and cheap goals conceded, according to Arne Slot. To extend the mixologist’s analogy, his team are enjoying life with a few margaritas in the Champions League.

Slot’s side cruised into the last 16 for the second successive season with a demolition of Qarabag at Anfield. Mohamed Salah was among the goalscorers for the first time since accusing Liverpool of throwing him under the bus, while Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz, the potent Hugo Ekitiké and substitute Federico Chiesa were also on the scoresheet.

On a chilly, fun, boisterous night in Paris, with the Champions League mega-table scrolling away in the background, Newcastle produced a fine performance at the home of the European champions that left both teams outside the automatic qualification slots, but Newcastle much the happier of the two.

A 1-1 draw means Eddie Howe’s team finished 12th overall. They will now enter the knockout phase in the last two weeks of February, as had always seemed likely, to face either Qarabag or Monaco. More surprisingly, Paris Saint-Germain will join them there after some late score-ticker malarkey nudged them out of the top eight.

Randal Kolo Muani was lucky to be on the field. The Tottenham striker had endured a moment of indescribable panic when the front right tyre on his Ferrari blew out on the motorway on Tuesday as he drove to Stansted airport for the team flight to Frankfurt.

The car was a write-off but Kolo Muani walked away from it. He had to take a later flight to make this Champions League game and he was plainly determined to make his mark on it.

Local officials confirmed that ICE will conduct immigration operations during 8 February game in Santa Clara

US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents are expected to conduct immigration enforcement operations during next month’s Super Bowl game in Santa Clara, California.

Local officials confirmed to media that ICE is expected to deploy for the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations team has long worked the Super Bowl and other major sporting events, largely focused on preventing human trafficking and stopping the sale of counterfeit goods, but immigration operations would be unusual.

• Updates from the women’s singles tennis on Rod Laver Arena

• Polish No 2 seed takes on Kazakhstan’s No 5 in Melbourne

• Any thoughts? Get in touch with an email

Elena Rybakina* (5) 3-2 Iga Swiatek (2) The duo exchange points as the game moves to 30-30, before a backhand dragged wide by Swiatek gives the opening to secure the hold Rybakina. After a brief baseline exchange, Swiatek is sent deep and forced into a forehand that looks to go just high and wide, giving the hold to the fifth seed.

Elena Rybakina (5) 2-2 Iga Swiatek* (2) A more straightforward, but not altogether simple, hold for Swiatek.

• Root hails captain after third ODI win against Sri Lanka

• Brook imitates move of wrestler after making century

The wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was the surprising inspiration for Harry Brook’s century celebration as the England white-ball captain led his side to a one-day international series victory against Sri Lanka with a thrilling, unbeaten 136.

Brook, who was involved in a clash with a nightclub bouncer on the tour of New Zealand earlier this winter, took his gloves off upon reaching his hundred and imitated Austin’s move of bashing beer cans together in the ring before drinking them.

English clubs stroll through Champions League group phase but fatigue tends to take its toll by the spring

Has there been a great game in the Champions League group stage this season? Probably not. Even if there had been, it almost certainly didn’t mean all that much. But that’s the way of the modern game: an extremely protracted clearing of the throat before the real business begins.

Uefa will proudly tell the world that only six teams have nothing to play for in the final round of games on Wednesday, but whether it was worth 126 games to get to the mild peril of Napoli or Club Brugge possibly going out, or the questionable thrill of finding out whether Tottenham or Atalanta will have to endure the playoff round, is debatable.

• WSL says it is committed to increasing pay floors

• Clubs can be docked points for breaching salary cap

Players aged under 23 in Women’s Super League 2 are not guaranteed to be paid the equivalent of the national living wage for a typical full-time worker annually, despite a large pay increase for the division’s lowest-paid players after the introduction of minimum salaries this season.

WSL2 clubs must pay players aged 21 and 22 a minimum of £22,200 and those aged 18 to 20 at least £17,500. Regulations state they must receive a minimum “contact time” of 20 hours a week excluding matchdays and mealtimes. For players aged 23 and over, the minimum salary is £26,900.