PARIS — Canadian international Jonathan David scored twice to help Lille blank Clermont 4-0 in French Ligue 1 soccer play Sunday.
David opened the scoring in the ninth minute at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, put in behind the Clermont defence by Portuguese youth international Tiago Santos. The 24-year-old forward from Ottawa made no mistake, firing a high shot that bounced in off the goalpost past unprotected goalkeeper Mory Diaw.
David made it 3-0 in the 37th minute with his eighth league goal of the season.
Diaw came out of his penalty box to corral a long ball from the Lille defence. The Senegalese ‘keeper took the ball on his chest but could not control it and David stepped in, firing a shot into the empty goal.
The Canadian has scored in Lille’s last four home games.
Captain Benjamin Andre, in the 23rd minute, and Kosovo international Edon Zhegrova, with a swerving long-range shot in the 39th, also scored for Lille which outshot Clermont 23-4 (13-3 in shots on target) and had 60.1 per cent possession.
Andre’s headed goal survived a VAR check for offside.
Lille came into weekend place in fifth place in the French top division, compared to 17th for Clermont which is mired in the relegation zone.
David has 26 goals in 45 appearances for Canada.
NICE 0, BREST 0
Second-place Nice again showed why it has the best defence in the French league, drawing 0-0 at Brest on Sunday to stay three points clear of its rival.
Nice has conceded only 11 goals in 20 league games and looked comfortable against third-place Brest in a game of few chances. Nice is eight points behind league leader Paris Saint-Germain.
Surprise front-runner Brest has never finished higher than eighth in its history but is on course to qualify for the lucrative Champions League. Coach Eric Roy’s side drew 2-2 at PSG last Sunday and shows no signs of dropping off the pace.
Earlier, Monaco was held 1-1 at home by promoted Le Havre.
Prolific striker Wissam Ben Yedder put Monaco ahead in the 63rd at Stade Louis II after swapping passes with winger Maghnes Akliouche, but Le Havre equalized two minutes later through midfielder Youssouf Fofana’s own goal.
Monaco’s draw allowed Lille to move into fourth place on goal difference after it beat struggling Clermont 4-0 at home, with Canada striker Jonathan David scoring twice to take his season’s tally to 13 goals in 27 games overall.
Later Sunday, Lyon hosted Marseille with no visiting fans allowed for security reasons after Lyon’s team bus was pelted with objects in the corresponding fixture.
OTHER MATCHES
Dutch striker Thijs Dallinga was on target as Toulouse won 3-2 at Reims to move closer to midtable, while Lorient won 2-1 at Metz to move off the bottom and send Clermont there instead.
France star Kylian Mbappé scored his 20th league goal of the season in PSG’s scrappy 2-1 win at Strasbourg on Friday. On Saturday he was again linked with a move to Real Madrid next season, but neither PSG or Madrid commented on reports saying he has decided to move.