Canadians in Europe: David earns late point against PSG
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Jonathan David earned Lille a key point with a late goal, while Adriana Leon was on the mark in the Women's Super League and a pair of Canadians faced off in the Championship. Here's a look at Canadians in action in Europe over the weekend.
Jonathan David, Lille - Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain looked to open up some further breathing room atop the table on Sunday when they visited Jonathan David and Lille with both Nice and Monaco having lost earlier in the weekend. Les Dogues were looking to continue their push for a Champions League place. There was very little in terms of quality chances in the first half with each team having one decent scoring chance. Midway through the frame, Edon Zhegrova collected a pass from David down the right, entered the area and turned Lucas Hernandez inside out with a low shot that he couldn't pull inside Arnau Tenas's near post. Minutes later, Ousmane Dembélé sprung Vitinha in from a tight angle, but Lucas Chevalier was up to the challenge and parried away the PSG's best chance of the half. The visitors would open the scoring from the spot in the 66th. Under a spate of pressure from PSG, Bafodé Diakité did well to prevent Dembélé from cutting inside, but then threw himself into a challenge that caught Hernandez and brought him to ground. Kylian Mbappé stepped up to take and blasted past Chevalier to make it 1-0. It was the France forward's league-leading 16th marker of the season. If PSG though they had wrapped up the three points, they can be forgiven because the hosts left it very late and needed an awful mistake from the visitors to equalize. Deep into stoppage, Marco Asensio needlessly gave the ball away to Remy Cabella under pressure from Ismaily. Cabella squared for Adam Ounas to unleash a low drive that was stopped by the feet of Tenas, but David, who had come on in the 81st for Yusuf Yazici, was there to beat Marquinhos to the rebound and calmly head home in the 95th. The goal was David's third in four matches and fifth of the season. With the 1-1 draw, PSG extended their lead to five points over Nice, while the point for Les Dogues pulled them within two points of Monaco for third.
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Adriana Leon, Aston Villa - Aston Villa picked up a key three points on Sunday to keep some distance from the drop zone in Women's Super League action at home to Brighton. The only goal of the game was scored by Mississauga, Ont.'s Adriana Leon midway through the second half as she made something from seemingly nothing with a brilliant solo effort. Picking up the ball down the right, Leon brought the ball to the far touchline, stepped inside Poppy Pattinson and ran at goal. With two Seagulls defenders waiting for her run and Sophie Baggaley coming to the far post to meet her, Leon still somehow managed to squeak a left-footed shot through the goalkeeper's legs in the 63rd. The goal was Leon's second of the season and the 12th of her career in the Women's Super League after previous stints with West Ham and Manchester United. The win took Villa to ninth place on nine points and four points clear of 12th-place Bristol City in the relegation spot.
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Ismaël Koné, Watford and Liam Millar, Preston North End - What started well for Preston North End finished in a nightmare afternoon on Saturday as Toronto's Liam Millar and PNE welcomed Watford and Montreal's Ismaël Koné in Championship action. Hornets 'keeper Ben Hamer was a busy man in the early going with the hosts forcing him into a number of fine saves thanks to some good work from Millar and Brad Potts among others. They were finally rewarded for their tenacity in the 27th. Millar ran down the left and did well to get a step on Tom Dele-Bashiru before send a ball across the face of goal to Will Keane, whose deft backheel beat Hamer to make it 1-0. It was Millar's third assist on the season. As indomitable as the hosts looked in the early going, they would rue only having one goal to show for it. Their lead didn't even make it to halftime. In the 42nd, Wesley Hoedt's fine cross to the far post was met by Vakoun Bayo's diving header to equalize just before the break. It didn't take long after the restart for the visitors to grab the lead. Seconds into the second half, Koné spotted PNE's very high line and sent a ball into their half for Matheus Martins with only Ben Whiteman to beat. After getting inside Whiteman, Martins' low shot beat Freddie Woodman and it was 2-1 for the Hornets. The assist was Koné's second on the campaign. It was 3-1 only seven minutes later and just after Potts was robbed for a second time by Hamer following a beautiful set-up from Millar. Using a number of players in the area as a screen, Edo Kayembe took a low drive that wasn't picked up immediately by Woodman to add to the visitors' tally in the 53rd. Bayo would get a second in the 71st set up by an outrageous pass by Kayembe, sent diagonally through the box and past a number of defenders. Koné would round out the scoring in the 77th with his second goal of the season. After a PNE free kick was dealt with, Watford broke forward in numbers with Koné bulging the twine with a low shot from just outside the area to make it 5-1. He finished his afternoon after 82 minutes, having completed 27 of 32 pass attempts and a tackle and interception to go along with his goal and assist. Millar played the full 90 minutes, completing 41 of 54 pass attempts with 44 carries and a booking for his trouble. The win takes Watford to ninth on 31 points, one back of PNE and five points behind Hull City for the final playoff spot.