Cementing his position as the Ligue 1 top scorer, Lille striker Jonathan David bagged two goals on Friday although his side failed to defend a two-goal lead against Monaco. With the 2-2 draw, defending champions Lille are down in the bottom half of the points table. 

Monaco put on a resilient show to salvage a point despite having a player sent off and provisionally moved into seventh place, four points outside the top four spots. “We dropped two points,” Lille coach Jocelyn Gourvennec said. “We miss that grit to finish off the game.”

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In the fifth minute, David slotted home a penalty to send Lille after Strahinja Pavlovic stomped on Xeka’s foot while blocking a shot from the midfielder. He then doubled the lead in the ninth minute by notching his 10th league goal. David chased a ball over the top from Tiago Djalo and held off Ruben Aguilar before beating Alexander Nübel from close range.

After receiving a through pass from Jonathan Ikone in the 39th minute, the Canada striker might have completed his hat trick, but Nübel denied him.

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In the 41st minute, Senegal winger Krepin Diatta equalised for the hosts with a stunning drive into the bottom corner.

After a mix-up between Domagoj Bradaric and Lille goalkeeper Ivo Grbic in the 49th minute, Kevin Volland’s flick was cleared off the line by Djalo.

Grbic kept Lille in front by blocking Volland’s header in the 74th minute and Aurelien Tchouameni’s low shot in the 76th minute.

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Monaco was reduced to ten men in the 78th minute after Pavlovic was sent off for a stamp on Ikone, but replacement Wissam Ben Yedder equalised with an angled drive in the 83rd minute.

“Our first 20 minutes were not really good, they were even catastrophic,” Monaco midfielder Sofiane Diop said. “But we managed to turn around the match in the last 25 minutes and we got a mental edge over them.”

Meanwhile, on Saturday, French league leader Paris Saint-Germain will be looking to keep their perfect home record intact against Nantes while fifth-place Rennes host Montpellier in the battle for European spots.

With inputs from the Associated Press