• Chelsea 8-0 Noah
• Félix and Nkunku hit doubles in thrashing

When the idea for the Europa Conference League first came to Uefa, it is unlikely that anybody in Nyon envisaged that one day a club of Chelsea’s means would be pumping six unanswered first-half goals past an Armenian outfit who were only founded seven years ago.

The point is that this competition was brought into existence for the benefit of Europe’s smaller clubs. There is little for Chelsea to gain, much as the prospect of adding another European trophy to their extensive haul will appeal to their supporters, and the truth is there was something faintly preposterous about this 8-0 victory over Noah.

Impressive, chilling and just a little bit silly: this update of Frederick Forsyth’s classic about a ruthless killing machine makes for highly enjoyable, trigger-happy viewing

For the first few minutes of The Day of the Jackal, you wonder why they have bothered to pay the Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne at all. He is so well disguised as an older German man that it could be anybody buried under all those prosthetics. Yet soon enough, after much prancing around an office building – where he shoots anyone who gets in the way – we are finally treated to the unboxing of Redmayne, as he peels away the mask, the wig, the makeup and the contact lenses. The scene is impressive, chilling and just a little bit silly – a neat summary of how the drama itself will unfold.

This is an update of Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel, thrust into the modern world of international politics, espionage, the dark web and criminal underworlds. Redmayne is the Jackal, a shapeshifting assassin so competent he can accurately fire a sniper rifle and hit his target from a record-breaking distance – so far away that, at first, MI6 refuses to believe that it is possible. He is a ruthless killing machine, sparing no thought for the collateral damage to the passersby who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And yet, in this version, he is also a family man, keeping a big assassin-shaped secret from his wife and son. If the Jackal is typically elusive, this detail aims to flesh him out and make him more human.

Hold on to your hat: Manchester United are victorious in Europe after three consecutive Europa League draws and three more without winning in last season’s Champions League.

So a 380-day drought stretching to a 1-0 win over FC Copenhagen at Old Trafford on 24 October 2023 ends courtesy of Amad Diallo, whose explosive wing play was crowned by his double. The first was a clever 51st-minute header. The second proved an exhibition of aggressiveness as he mugged Abdul Baba along the right, shrugged off the defender’s manhandling, then fired a shot into the left corner, via a deflection.

Prosecutors say they charged someone who was close to the singer, a hotel employee and a suspected drug dealer

Three people have been charged in relation to the death of the One Direction singer Liam Payne , Argentinian prosecutors said on Thursday, after the superstar fell from his hotel balcony last month.

Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he died, authorities said in a statement . Those charged are someone who was close to Payne, a hotel employee and a suspected drug dealer, prosecutors added.

• Philippe Clement’s side still in contention to progress
• Shamrock Rovers beat TNS in Conference League

Rangers’ hit-and-miss striker Cyriel Dessers redeemed himself against Olympiakos with a second-half equaliser in the 1-1 Europa League draw in Greece.

On a night when the Rangers captain, James Tavernier, was dropped to the bench, the visitors did lots of things right in the first half but Dessers, who regularly frustrates his own fans, spurned two good opportunities and there were other half-chances for the side.

This was the kind of breathless, wild encounter in which both Galatasaray and Tottenham deal routinely and the only surprise was a goal tally that did no justice to a game whose openness beggared belief. In truth Spurs should have been blown to smithereens by hosts who had no idea how to apply the handbrake and had unloaded 28 shots by the end. A stunner from Yunus Akgun and two goals from Victor Osimhen, who had countless other chances, completed their tally by half-time but somehow Ange Postecoglou’s side remained in with a sniff until matters concluded.

That was partly due to a first senior goal for the 19-year-old Will Lankshear, who celebrated in front of a baying home support but was chastened on the hour by a second yellow card. Dominic Solanke offered an unlikely lifeline later on and, although no leveller was forthcoming, this defeat should have little impact on Tottenham’s chances of reaching the knockout stage.

Competition to resemble Normal People star is markedly lower-stakes than chaotic Timothée Chalamet event in New York last month

Two weeks ago, a mobbed competition to find a Timothée Chalamet lookalike in New York led to one arrest, a $500 fine for an “unpermitted costume contest” and a surprise appearance by the real-life Chalamet , fuelling further chaos.

But a similar event in Dublin on Thursday, this time to find a doppelganger for Paul Mescal, the star of Normal People and the upcoming Gladiator II, unfolded rather more sedately.

• England mood now ‘much more inclusive’ says captain
• ‘Eddie was someone who never wanted to sit still’

The England captain, Jamie George, has insisted that a toxic environment is not a necessary price to pay for success after admitting Eddie Jones’s regime could be “challenging” and that he understands where Danny Care is coming from after his explosive claims about the Australian’s setup.

George, who was appointed England captain at the start of the year, was a mainstay of Jones’s squad and is adamant that the current set-up is “much more inclusive” but did concede “it hasn’t always been that way” in a nod to Care’s comments in his autobiography that the previous environment was like “a dictatorship”. George did, however, laud Jones’s coaching credentials.

Demonstrators in South Korea swore off heterosexual dating in protest against misogyny. Now the movement is sparking interest among young American women

McKenna, who is 24 and lives in a rural, conservative state, recently got back on dating apps after a year of finding herself. She had two first dates planned for this weekend, but after Donald Trump won the election, she cancelled both.

“It’s heartbreaking to know that in this country you only matter if you’re a straight white man,” she said. “It’s just devastating that we’re at this point. So I will not let another man touch me until I have my rights back.”