The Kansas City Chiefs outlasted the Miami Dolphins in freezing conditions to take a step towards a fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years.

With the temperature at a near-NFL-record low of minus 20C, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was instrumental in leading his side to a dominant 26-7 victory.

Mahomes threw for 262 yards and a touchdown without turning the ball over on a night where rushing was the focal point of Kansas City’s offence.

The strategy paid off as the Chiefs opened the scoring in the first few minutes and stayed in front from there.

An injury-depleted Miami was far from their high-scoring best, finishing with just 264 total yards as the Dolphins remain without a play off victory since 2000.

The cold weather wreaked havoc across the first day of the super wild card round, with the matchup between the Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers in Buffalo being rescheduled to Monday due to a potentially dangerous snowstorm.

Elsewhere, CJ Stroud threw for three touchdowns as the Houston Texans demolished the Cleveland Browns 45-14.

Stroud racked up 274 yards in the air without a turnover, while Browns quarterback Joe Flacco was picked off twice in the heavy loss.

Evan Bouchard scored on a power play 2:01 into overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers to their franchise-record 10th straight victory, 2-1 over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

Leon Draisaitl had the other goal and Stuart Skinner stopped 23 shots as the Oilers improved to 18-3-0 in their last 21 games.

Connor McDavid assisted on the winning goal, giving him a 10-game point streak with five goals and 11 assists.

Draisaitl has seven goals and four assists during the win streak and Skinner has won seven straight starts with a .951 save percentage.

Cole Caufield scored and Sam Montembault made 39 saves for the Canadiens, who lost for the seventh time in nine games.

Kraken rally for 9th straight victory

Jared McCann scored two goals and set up another and the Seattle Kraken rallied for a 7-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, their ninth in a row.

Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and two assists and Brian Dumoulin added a goal and an assist for the Kraken, who have the longest win streak in the franchise’s three-year history. Seattle is 11-0-2 in its past 13 games, a stretch that directly followed an eight-game losing streak.

Joey Daccord made 30 saves to win his eighth consecutive start, posting a 1.49 goals-against average in that span.

Devils snap Panthers’ 9-game winning streak

Nico Daws turned aside 35 shots and Alexander Holtz and Jesper Bratt scored first-period goals as the New Jersey Devils stopped the Florida Panthers’ 9-game winning streak, 4-1.

Erik Haula and John Marino had the other goals for the Devils, who improved to 6-2-1 in their last nine games.

Sam Reinhart tallied his 31st goal as Florida tasted defeat for the first time since Dec. 21. He has 13 goals in his last 10 games and has scored in each of the last six.

Matthew Tkachuk assisted on the goal to extend his point streak to eight games (seven goals, 10 assists).

Jodie Burrage was unable to build on a good start as her Australian Open debut ended with a first-round loss to German Tamara Korpatsch.

Burrage earned her spot in the main draw for the first time with a strong year in 2023 and she played with confidence and purpose to take the opening set as the year’s first grand slam made its maiden Sunday start.

But, as Korpatsch steadied, Burrage’s unforced error count began to rise and it was the German who came through 2-6 6-3 6-0.

The pair had met twice in the closing months of last season, with Korpatsch winning both, but Burrage knew she had the power advantage and she used it well in the first set.

The 24-year-old served strongly and seized on her opponent’s weaker delivery to break twice.

She was in the ascendancy again to start the second set but Korpatsch hung on and the momentum began to swing as the German, who had looked uncomfortable and unsettled, asked Burrage more questions.

The British number two had chances to get back on serve at the end of the second but could not take them and the decider quickly ran away from her in a slew of errors.

Seko Fofana and Jean-Philippe Krasso lifted tournament hosts Ivory Coast to a 2-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau in front of an elated Abidjan crowd to kick off the Africa Cup of Nations.

Fofana fired the Elephants in front inside four minutes at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, punishing their Group A rivals for a lapse at the back, and came inches away from adding another before the break.

Krasso doubled the lead with a volleyed effort to buy his side a bit of breathing room in the 58th minute as former Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba looked on from the stands.

The visitors came closest when Mama Balde put Franculino Dju through on goal late in the second half, but they never looked like staging a serious comeback.

Fofana’s opener was the result of a defensive lapse by the visitors, who gave the ball away in a dangerous position allowing the Manchester City academy graduate to latch onto Franck Kessie’s low pass and whip the ball past Guinea-Bissau goalkeeper Ouparine Djoco into the top corner.

Fofana nearly doubled his side’s advantage when he forced Djoco into a brilliant fingertip save, the keeper getting enough contact to push against the crossbar and out of danger.

Despite a decent start from Guinea-Bissau, who did have their chances and made it perhaps a closer contest than some expected for a side 54 places above them in FIFA’s world rankings, the home nation continued to control proceedings after the break.

Another Guinea-Bissau error led to Krasso’s alert effort as he patiently controlled the ball on a bounce inside the area before volleying low into the right corner to seal the result.

Erik ten Hag says Manchester United will only succeed with “hungry players” after letting Jadon Sancho leave little more than a year after Cristiano Ronaldo’s high-profile departure.

The Dutch coach was brought in 19 months ago to change things on and off the pitch at Old Trafford, where he has had to deal with a fair share of distractions.

Unhappy star Ronaldo’s second spell at United ended in acrimonious fashion in November 2022 and another big name has left midway through a Ten Hag season in charge of the Premier League giants.

Sancho has been banished from the first-team since September, when he claimed on social media that he had been made a “scapegoat” after the Dutchman said he omitted him from a matchday squad due to his training levels.

The 23-year-old this week returned to former club Borussia Dortmund on loan for the rest of the season and, while he wished the winger luck, the United boss underlined the need for the right mentality at the club.

“If you want to perform, you need hungry players,” Ten Hag said.

“I already said, we need personalities and players who are very hungry to fight for the badge, so fight for this club, and to do this in the team.”

Discipline is a key pillar of Ten Hag’s approach and was backed during the Ronaldo situation by the Glazers, while new incoming minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has not stood in the way of Sancho’s exit.

“I think it is not about discipline, it is about normal behaviour,” the Dutchman said. “It is about that, so what you can expect from a top professional.”

United are preparing for Sunday’s home clash with Tottenham – their only Premier League match this month.

The Red Devils need a win having lost nine of their 20 top-flight matches in an injury-hit season, with results and performances increasing the pressure on Ten Hag.

But the United boss trusts a process he believes will improve as absentees return, including Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez.

Ten Hag said: “If you ask me the question ‘is it difficult for you (to deal with things)?’, no, it is not difficult for me.

“Because I could expect from the start of the season when this happened the process could go negative, then, as a manager, you have to stay positive and get the process in the right direction.

“In the meantime, you have to be pragmatic, get as much points as possible and wait until the players are fit.

“In the meantime, work on your team, work on individuals that they go to higher levels, that you set conditions that the team is performing better, that the results will rise again.”

Hakan Calhanoglu and Lautaro Martinez both scored twice as Inter Milan won 5-1 at Monza to extend their lead at the top of Serie A.

Marcus Thuram was also on target as Simone Inzaghi’s side moved five points clear of Juventus, who host Sassuolo on Tuesday night.

Inter had started brightly, with Federico Dimarco flashing an early chance across the face of goal with an angled drive from the edge of the area.

The visitors were awarded a penalty in the 12th minute for handball by Roberto Gagliardini as he jumped to block a header from Martinez. The decision was given after a review by the referee on the pitchside monitor.

Calhanoglu confidently dispatched the spot-kick low into the bottom right corner.

Before Monza could recover, they fell further behind in the 14th minute.

Dimarco got away down the left following a swift counter attack and played the ball across the six-yard box where Martinez swept it in from close range.

Inter showed little sign of sitting back, with Thuram volleying wide after another dangerous ball from Dimarco.

Monza thought they had reduced the deficit in the 28th minute when Matteo Pessina nodded in from a free-kick when the ball dropped through to the back post – only for the goal to be ruled out following a lengthy VAR review for offside.

There was a stoppage before half-time when Monza forward Dany Mota and Inter defender Benjamin Pavard both needed to be bandaged up following a clash of heads.

Thuram blasted wide of the right-hand post from 20 yards after another swift counter attack.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan sent a half-volley from the edge of the box flying just wide as Inter looked to further extend their lead in the second half.

Calhanoglu picked up a caution in the 59th minute, which will see him suspended for the next Serie A game against Fiorentina following the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

The Turkey midfielder showed no signs of letting that concern him as he slotted in Inter’s third goal following another breakaway.

After clearing from a Monza corner, Mkhitaryan darted down the left and cut the ball back for Thuram who unselfishly laid it off for Calhanoglu to net his second of the night.

Pavard’s towering header was clawed away by Monza keeper Alessandro Sorrentino, before the hosts were awarded a penalty with 20 minutes left following a foul by Matteo Darmian on Mota.

Monza captain Pessina rolled the spot-kick into the bottom left corner, sending Yann Sommer the wrong way.

Inter were awarded their second penalty of the night in the 84th minute when Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro went through the back of substitute Davide Frattesi. Martinez confidently converted for his 18th Serie A goal of the season.

Four minutes later, Thuram cut inside from the left to fire in a low drive after yet another surging run from Mkhitaryan to complete the rout.

Pep Guardiola is relieved to have “special player” Kevin De Bruyne back after he inspired Manchester City to victory at Newcastle on his return to Premier League action.

The 32-year-old Belgium international, who had not made a league appearance since August because of injury, endured a disappointing start to his evening on Tyneside when he drilled a free-kick harmlessly into the defensive wall with his first touch.

But he drew City level within five minutes of his introduction and then set up fellow substitute Oscar Bobb to snatch a 3-2 victory in stoppage time.

Asked about his contribution, Guardiola said with a smile: “I am so disappointed in him and upset and grumpy because the free-kick, he didn’t score a goal.

“Apart from that, I had the feeling he was not ready for 90 minutes after five months. We cannot forget – people say, ‘OK he’s ready, he can play after five months 90 minutes’.

“It’s not the case, so that is why he was in that situation. But we had control of the game and his impact in the last 35 minutes, the goal, the assist and how many times he arrived at the byline for the crosses…

“He is a special player. He is a legend, he is beloved by our people and he is fresh in his mind because five months is a lot of time. Hopefully in the second part of the season, he can help us be there until the end.”

City looked to be on their way when Bernardo Silva cheekily back-heeled Kyle Walker’s cross past Martin Dubravka, but superb finishes from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon inside two minutes put the Magpies ahead.

They retained their advantage until 16 minutes from time when De Bruyne, who had been introduced as a replacement for Silva five minutes earlier, levelled with an astute finish before setting up fellow substitute Bobb to win it in stoppage time.

Assessing a win which took City back into second place behind Liverpool to enhance their title hopes, Guardiola said: “Why should we not try it again?

“We have won (the title) three times in a row, five in the last six, so why not? It’s really important because Liverpool are flying over the last month and we have to go to Anfield, so it’s better to be close to them.”

For Magpies boss Eddie Howe, there was pride in a fine display, but one which ended in disappointment to join a series of near misses this season against the likes of Liverpool and Paris St Germain.

“There was so much promise and so many good things, so to be sat here with nothing is very, very painful,” Howe said.

“The lads have given so much physically in that game. The first half was everything that we want to be. We wanted to be aggressive and front foot. When you do that, you take risks, but those risks were worth it.

“You could see that it paid off at the other end. We still wanted to do that in the second half, we still wanted to play the same way, but we just couldn’t deliver that in the second half.”

On De Bruyne’s contribution, Howe added: “You just hope he’s rusty and not up to full speed yet, but then he comes on and delivers that and you think, ‘Well, there’s no rustiness there’.”

Jadon Sancho made an instant impact on his Borussia Dortmund return as he set up a goal in a 3-0 Bundesliga win at Darmstadt on Saturday.

England international Sancho rejoined Dortmund on loan this week after being frozen out of the first-team picture at Manchester United.

The 23-year-old had not played senior football since August but he wasted little time after entering the action as a 55th-minute substitute.

Sancho had a shot blocked soon after coming on and in the 77th minute he found space in the area to tee up Marco Reus for the visitors’ second goal.

Dortmund, who had been leading since a Julian Brandt opener after 24 minutes, wrapped up victory in the closing moments through Youssoufa Moukoko.

Sancho said on Sky Sports: “Ever since I’ve come back it’s felt like home and I’m happy to be on the pitch again.

“I just want to be happy again, be back on the pitch and help the team get back in the top three and qualify for the Champions League.

“I’ve got personal goals that I’m not going to say for now. I just want to help the team.”

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna praised his team’s level of commitment as they ended a five-match winless run by beating Sunderland 2-1.

The Tractor Boys trailed to Jack Clarke’s opener after 26 minutes, but Kayden Jackson levelled matters seven minutes later before Conor Chaplin completed the comeback in the 75th minute with a powerful header.

Victory sees Ipswich retain second spot in the Championship, seven points adrift of leaders Leicester who lost to Coventry, and McKenna felt it was a gutsy performance from his players.

He said: “It was a really tough game against a good side.

“They have lots of talented players with a really high technical level so it was a really hard-fought game. I thought a really strong and committed performance was needed to get the win and that’s what we gave.

“It wasn’t our smoothest performance in terms of some of our build-up and some of our connections through the pitch, but that’s normal and to be expected and it’s normal across the season.

“You’re not always going to be at your best, especially with the players we had missing and new players coming in. Things aren’t always going to be smooth, but when you’re not at your absolute highest level then you have to show the other ingredients, commitment, intensity, work rate for the team, and we certainly showed all that.

“I thought we carried a threat throughout the game and we had the better of the chances and great to get the winning goal from a set play.”

Sunderland, meanwhile, sit just outside the top six on goal difference and head coach Michael Beale admitted the result was a bitter pill to swallow.

“It was a good game between two good teams,” he said. “I thought we had enough of the game to get a result out of it.

“I thought we had two big chances before we scored in the first half, and obviously the big miss at the start of the second half, and how naive we are to give away a free-kick (for Ipswich’s winner)?

“The smallest player on the pitch has had a free header in the middle of the goal and we’ve got ourselves to blame.

“It was a good game, two good teams giving each other problems and going at each other, it was a refreshing game I thought. It would have been a good game for the neutral.

“But it’s the naivety that’s cost us the points. If we had gone up back up the road with one point, we would have had ifs and buts at the chances that we had. But to go up the road with nothing, it’s really disappointing.”

Holger Rune believes he should be considered among the favourites to win a grand slam in 2024.

The 20-year-old Dane enjoyed a strong campaign last year, winning one title and reaching the finals of the Masters in Rome and Monte-Carlo.

Rune got this season off to a good start too, reaching the final of the Brisbane International, which he lost in straight sets to Grigor Dimitrov.

World number eight Rune will be aiming to go one further at the Australian Open, with his campaign starting against Yoshihito Nishioka.

While Opta's predictive model gives Rune just a one per cent chance of going all the way in Melbourne, he is confident he can claim his maiden major title this year.

"I believe that I am a contender to win a grand slam next year," he told Stats Perform.

"It's going to take a lot of work, but I've sacrificed a lot and I'm trusting the process every day and coming out of my comfort zone.

"Every practice is physical and trying to improve mentally also so if I do better next year it won't surprise me." 

It is not just the four majors on the cards this season, but a potential medal at the Paris Olympics.

Rune added: "Yeah, it's going to be a very exciting season. There's a lot of chances next year for grand slams, for the Olympics, and I'm going to go for it.

"I'm going to go to every tournament that I can.

"[The Olympics mean] a lot, everything. With the grand slams, it's the biggest thing in tennis. It's every fourth year, so it's very rare.

"I think if you ask me whether I'd rather win a grand slam or the Olympics, I think I'll still say a grand slam, but the second thing I would say is the Olympics. It's a massive event."

Darren Ferguson praised the impact of two-goal Ephron Mason-Clark as Peterborough moved second in League One with a 2-1 win at Charlton.

Mason-Clark put Ferguson’s side ahead in the first half and then secured the points with a 75th-minute second.

The win extends Peterborough’s unbeaten league run to 10 games, and Ferguson was in no doubt Mason-Clark deserved his double.

The Posh manager said: “He’s good player. He’s so strong, he gets kicked around all over the place but he gets up and gets on with it.

“He’s scored two today and that’s 13 for the season. He’s a very, very good player.”

Ferguson was frustrated his side failed to make more of their first-half dominance, but having restored their lead after Alfie May’s 49th-minute equaliser, the manager was satisfied with the way Peterborough maintained their improved run of form on the road.

He said: “Coming into the Christmas period we spoke about improving our away form and we have certainly done that. I think that’s four away wins on the bounce which is very impressive.

“We deserved to win the game overall, we just didn’t finish it off but we dug it out in the end.

“We were completely dominant in the first half, there was no real threat against us. We got the goal but just couldn’t get the second goal.

“Then at the start of the second half we had four unbelievable chances inside 10 seconds and we didn’t manage to take one.

“Any team that comes here and wins, its a good win. It’s a very important win.”

Defeat means Charlton are now without a victory in eight league games.

A poor first-half display was met with boos at half-time, and manager Michael Appleton admitted he shared the fans’ disappointment before highlighting an improved second-half display.

He said: “Obviously the first half was frustrating. We were tentative and showed them a bit too much respect.

“In the second half I thought we were outstanding at times. We came up a top side and we stood toe to toe with them at times and created plenty of opportunities.

“I wanted us to pass the ball quicker and make more runs without the ball. We got that in the second half. I really enjoyed watching us in that second half. It gave me lots of hope and encouragement.

“We have just got to focus on what we are doing. We’ve got 20 games, 60 points to play for. If we get the personnel in we want, I think we can get a lot of those points.”

Huddersfield boss Darren Moore insisted he did not feel under increasing pressure after his side were held 1-1 at home by relegation rivals Plymouth.

The Terriers salvaged a hard-earned point after Josh Koroma’s first goal since September cancelled out Morgan Whittaker’s 15th of the season in all competitions for Plymouth.

Some Town fans booed at the final whistle and the club’s American owner Kevin Nagle, watching from the stands, posted on X at the final whistle: “NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!”

The Terriers have won three of their 21 Sky Bet Championship matches since Moore replaced Neil Warnock in September and sit four points above the relegation zone.

When asked to comment on Nagle’s post, Moore said: “I think we’ve all agreed in here that we’ve just dropped two points, so I think it’s fair to agree with that.

“I can only express that even further. We’re on the same page because that’s the high standards that we set here.”

When asked if he thought Nagle’s message was aimed at him, Moore added: “Not at all. We’ve all got the Huddersfield badge on and we all share the same views, so not at all.

“I really don’t mind. Looking at the team, everything he tweets I endorse because the chairman is showing a passion and commitment.

“So really, honestly, I don’t mind. Today the performance was good, but it’s two points dropped.”

The Terriers have won only one of their last nine league games – and two of their last 15 – and failed to win at the John Smith’s Stadium for the 11th time this season, but Moore said he does not feel under pressure.

“No. For me it’s about making sure you put all your energies into the game, to keep the positives going,” he added.

“Of course we want to win games, that’s the business, the industry, it won’t ever change and the next opportunity we get is the next one.

“We all know we’re trying extremely hard to do that. Hopefully, from my positivity and my determination, the boys can continue to do that.”

Plymouth head coach Ian Foster was pleased with his players after his first league game in charge.

Argyle remain winless in the league on the road this season, but the former England Under-20s boss focused on the positives.

He said: “We’ve had four or five days on the grass and I’ve given them an awful lot of tactical and principle information and what was pleasing today was you could see it. They implemented our ideas well.

“The difficulty we’ve got is we’re clearly struggling away from home. We needed a platform to build from and a structure to do that.

“But we’ve also got to find the balance between structurally sound and difficult to beat to having that attacking potency.

“Although the goal was magnificent, I thought that was probably the part of our game that we lacked.”