It seems fitting that Gabriel Jesus should have chosen this time of year to end his goalscoring drought. A brilliant hat-trick from the Brazil striker sealed a stirring second-half comeback for Arsenal to book their place in the semi-finals after Jean-Philippe Mateta had fired Crystal Palace into an early lead.

Oliver Glasner’s well-drilled side looked capable of springing a surprise until Mikel Arteta’s half-time substitutions changed the course of this tie, although it was Jesus – who had only found the net once in his last 34 appearances – who came to his manager’s rescue in the end despite a scare when Eddie Nketiah pulled one back late on against his former club.

These complex, contradictory heavyweights are ready to recommence hostilities – let’s hope someone tells the locals

Fight week in Riyadh, at least to an outsider, is an often ghostly experience. Unless you’re up close and talking to the actual fighters, to Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, or seeing them step off a parked jumbo jet to make their outrageously grand arrivals in front of a small group of local dignitaries, chattering YouTube outlets and jaded reporters, boxing feels like a mysterious rumour from the other side of the world.

It’s hard to gauge how many of the seven million people who live in this vast and teeming city are even aware that Usyk will defend his world heavyweight titles against Fury on Saturday night, in a rematch of their classic first fight in Riyadh just seven months ago. I have spent hours this week in the company of various Uber drivers, as we crisscross the city, and the chattier men tend to ask two questions: where are you from? Why are you here?

• Updates from the match at the Gabba in Brisbane
• Any thoughts? Email or get in touch on X @GeoffLemonSport

Here’s a new one. We have a lightning delay. Everybody is leaving the ground, even the ground staff and the camera operators. A big dark thunderhead is cruising by like a container ship.

Ten minutes for Australia to get ready to bat. Then 92 overs left in the day, rain permitting.

The first trans woman to feature at the PDC world darts championship says she just wants to play

From every corner of the West Hall, from the stands to the table seats, came a ringing of boos. Up on the stage Noa-Lynn van Leuven held her head high. Tried to maintain her focus amid the cacophony of derision and disdain being flung her way by the crowd.

Now, before your favourite patriotic news outlet gets too excited, this was no act of protest, or prejudice, or cruelty. Van Leuven was simply paying the public penalty that awaits all players when they start a leg with two 180s and then miss the seventh dart of an attempted nine-dart finish. Just a normal thing that happens all the time, and is really no big deal.

• Olympic 800m champion rewarded for remarkable year
• Darts prodigy Luke Littler, 17, second; Joe Root third

No one could stop Keely Hodgkinson on the track in 2024 – or, as it turned out, the battle for public opinion as the Olympic 800m champion lifted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

“As a little girl, I dared to dream big,” said the 22-year-old from Atherton, near Wigan, after being rewarded for a remarkable year, in which she won Olympic and European gold, obliterated her own British record, and remained unbeaten over two laps.

Already struggling to deal with expectations, nobody knows when the Chelsea winger will set foot on a pitch again

People who come across Mykhailo Mudryk often sense a distance. Intentionally or not, mystery attaches itself to the shy young man who caused such excitement when he turned up at Stamford Bridge in January 2023. None of the winger’s managers at Chelsea have been able to crack the code and the sense is that Mudryk’s guard will go higher after the Football Association provisionally suspended him after a positive drug test.

This is a story without winners. A career that promised so much is in danger of falling apart, and one of the saddest aspects of Mudryk’s plight is that his absence is unlikely to derail Chelsea’s burgeoning title challenge. Enzo Maresca will be able to cope perfectly well without the 23‑year‑old. Chelsea’s head coach is not short of options in attack. Mudryk, who has never looked settled since moving to England, is a mere afterthought these days.

• England forward says he is ‘ready for next steps’
• Rashford out of squad and could leave in January

Marcus Rashford’s almost 20-year association with Manchester United looks set to come to an end after the striker acknowledged: “I think I’m ready for a new challenge and the next steps.” The England ­international was dropped from the squad for the Manchester derby ­victory over City on Sunday and the club are open to selling him.

The 27-year-old has struggled for form over the past two seasons and the new head coach, Ruben Amorim, and United’s hierarchy will be happy to move Rashford on in January. United are willing to listen to offers for the forward but his £365,000 per week wages could make it difficult to find a suitor that can afford him, so may need to accept below-market value to smooth his departure.

• Updates from the match at the Gabba in Brisbane
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• New Zealand v England: third Test, day four – live

22nd over: India 66-4 (Rahul 42, Rohit 5) Cummins causing all kinds of problems again, this time beating Rohit with a leg-cutter much as he had troubled Rahul with earlier. Rohit responds with a punishing square drive to the boundary at deep point.

21st over: India 61-4 (Rahul 41, Rohit 1) Another chance! Rahul ends the over with a mis-timed drive to mid-on and there is a delayed call for a single. Rohit is slow off the mark as Hazlewood pounces on the ball and throws to the striker’s end as the India skipper dives across the crease. He looked home but that was another scare for India. One delivery earlier and Rahul plays the shot of the morning so far with a square drive through point to the boundary.

• Live updates from the fourth day’s play in Hamilton
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• Australia v India: third Test, day four – live

12th over: England 49-2 (Bethell 20, Root 16) O’Rourke is again hitting 90mph, which turns him from a very awkward bowler into a mildly terrifying one. Even Root is struggling to find the middle of the bat and almost falls when a gloved pull beats the diving Blundell and goes for four.

Meanwhile, this email is spot on. “There’s something about Will O’Rourke’s put-upon demeanour that reminds me of Angus Fraser,” writes Matt Emerson. “Even when he was on a hat-trick he looked like someone had stolen his lunch money. He’s a bit quicker than the great man, mind…”