CANADA FORWARD JONATHAN DAVID SCORES IN SERIE A DEBUT

MILAN -- Canada forward Jonathan David scored in his Serie A debut to set Juventus on the way to a 2-0 win over Parma in their season opener on Sunday.

David joined Juventus in July on a free transfer after his five-year contract at Lille expired.

Juventus ended the match with 10 men after Andrea Cambiaso was sent off seven minutes from time but substitute Dusan Vlahovic doubled the Bianconeri's lead moments later.

"It's everything I hoped for," said David, who was given a standing ovation when he was replaced by Vlahovic in the 80th minute. "It was the first game of the season and the fans brought an amazing atmosphere and you could feel them pushing us forward.

"I'm happy to score in my first game but the most important thing is the three points."

The 25-year-old David scored 25 goals and provided 12 assists in 49 matches across all competitions for Lille last season.

Jonathan David made an immediate impact in his Serie A debut, scoring a goal to help Juventus secure a 2-0 victory over Parma. Photo by ALESSANDRO DI MARCO/EPA/Shutterstock

David is also Canada's all-time leading scorer with 36 goals in 67 appearances.

"The target is to help the team as much as I can," David said. "If it's by scoring goals, by getting assists, running back, defending, I will do everything.

Juventus struggled in the first half but was dominant after the break and broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when David got in front of his marker to prod home Kenan Yildiz's cross.

Yildiz also set up Juve's second as a rapid counterattack saw Vlahovic send him down the right and then race from the center circle into the box to tap home the return pass.

That came shortly after Cambiaso earned himself a needless red card. He had gone up together with Mathias Løvik for a high ball and then reacted by shoving the Parma player and appearing to strike him in the face with his arm.

In other matches from Serie A's opening week, Pisa, which finished second in Serie B last season, surprisingly took the lead in Bergamo in the 26th minute.

Idrissa Touré's cross from the right went through to Samuele Angori, who put it back into the area toward Henrik Meister, but Atalanta defender Isak Hien bundled it over the line instead.

Atalanta was playing its first match of the post-Gian Piero Gasperini era after the coach left for Roma following nine years in charge and was replaced by Ivan Jurić.

Jurić's halftime talk paid off as Atalanta was a team transformed after the interval. Gianluca Scamacca leveled five minutes into the second half, gathering a pass from Mario Pasalic and cutting inside his defender before firing into the far bottom corner.

It was Scamacca's first goal in more than 450 days and he almost doubled his tally in the 58th but headed off the crossbar.

Historic VAR announcement Nico Paz set up one goal and scored a stunning second as Como kicked off its Serie A season with a 2-0 win over Lazio.

Cesc Fabregas' team broke the deadlock less than two minutes into the second half when Nico Paz gathered the ball inside his own half and feinted past a Lazio player before threading an impressive through ball for Tasos Douvikas to run onto and fire past Ivan Provedel.

Nico Paz got on the scoresheet himself in the 73rd minute with a free kick into the top left corner.

Lazio had thought it had equalized 10 minutes earlier but Taty Castellanos' strike was ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside.

In a first for Italian soccer, referee Gianluca Manganiello announced the decision live to the stadium. The explanation of VAR decisions in real time has been introduced from this season in Serie A.

Elsewhere, Sebastiano Luperto scored deep in stoppage time to snatch a 1-1 draw for Cagliari at home to Fiorentina.

- Associated Press

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: MONACO SEE OFF ASTON VILLA AS LILLE FALL IN LIVERPOOL

Ligue 1 teams competing in the Champions League on Tuesday night experienced contrasting fortunes in the penultimate games of the group stages.  Monaco ended their dismal run of form with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa while Liverpool beat Lille 2-1 to maintain their 100 percent record in the tournament.

Wilfried Singo scored Monaco's winner against Aston Villa in the Champions League. AP - Laurent Cipriani

"We were in a difficult situation but I have to say compliments to the team. They fought from beginning to the end against a top team from the Premier League. I hope it helps to give them their confidence back."

Monaco were playing their fourth game in a punishing January schedule.

They started their travails on 10 January with a 2-2 draw at Nantes in Ligue 1. They lost their last-32 Coupe de France tie against Reims four days later.

And they went down 2-1 to Montpellier in Ligue 1 on 17 January.

Slump

Monaco host Rennes in Ligue 1 on 25 January before travelling to Italy to face Inter Milan at the San Siro on 29 January in their final game in the group stages.

Lille began the penultimate round of matches in the 36-team division in eighth place – the final berth for automatic qualification to the last-16 knockout stages. 

But they dropped into one of the 16 slots for a play-off place in the last-16 following the setback at Anfield. Mo Salah gave Liverpool the lead in the 34th minute.

On the hour mark, Jonathan David levelled for the visitors who had just been reduced to 10 men after the dismissal of Aissa Mandi for two bookable offences.

But parity lasted only briefly. In the 67th minute, Harvey Elliot restored Liverpool's advantage and the Merseysiders held on to register their seventh successive win and qualification to the knockout stages.

Challenge

On Wednesday night, two more Ligue 1 sides feature in European club football's most prestigious competition. Brest, who are playing in the Champions League for the first time, continue their campaign at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Brest boast 13 points from their six games and go into their seventh match in a far healthier state than Ligue 1 pacesetters Paris Saint-Germain who entertain Manchester City at the Parc des Princes.

PSG, lie 25th with in the division with only seven points from their six games. They have no chance of surging into the top eight places and they are in danger of failing to occupy one of the 16 play-off spots.

Visitors

Manchester City also languish in the table. They are 22nd with eight points and in need of points to progress. 

"We know it will be difficult against Manchester City," said PSG striker Ousmane Dembélé. "We know that it is a crucial game if we want to stay in the Champions League this season so we have to do everything to get the three points."

The game will pit the PSG coach Luis Enrique against his former Barcelona teammate Pep Guardiola. "It will be a  pleasure to see Pep again," said Enrique.

"I don't think anyone would have predicted that either Manchester City or PSG would be in this situation. But here we are.

"This is the reality of the new format of the Champions League. Both teams will deploy their best weapons to get the three points."

- Paul Myers

LIVERPOOL GUARANTEE TOP TWO FINISH IN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, WIN SEVENTH GAME IN A ROW

Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring for Liverpool.
© AFP

Liverpool maintained their perfect Champions League record to guarantee a top-two finish in the league phase and automatic last-16 qualification with a 2-1 win over Lille at Anfield on Tuesday. Harvey Elliott's deflected strike secured a seventh consecutive Champions League victory for Arne Slot's men after Jonathan David cancelled out Mohamed Salah's opener. Liverpool remain three points clear of Barcelona, who came from 4-2 down to beat Benfica 5-4.

Lille's first defeat in 22 games in all competitions leaves the French side 11th.

Liverpool will welcome direct progress to the last 16, without the need for a play-off round, with the Premier League leaders still involved in four competitions.

Slot took the chance to rotate with the Reds already all but assured of progress to the next round.

Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley, Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez, fresh from his match-winning contribution off the bench, came in from the side that beat Brentford 2-0 on Saturday to open up a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Not for the first time this season, Liverpool's strength in depth made the difference with another winner from a substitute in Elliott, who has had to wait for his chance to shine since Slot took charge.

"The privilege of managing Liverpool is that you have more than 11 good players," said Slot.

"That's also the reason why we can compete in the Champions League, in the League Cup, FA Cup and the Premier League.

"You need more than 11 good players, and it's up to them to be ready if they get the chance, and I think Harvey showed today, with maybe a bit of a lucky goal, but his performance was good. That's also what you expect if you bring a player like him in, because he's a quality player."

Lille arrived on Merseyside full of confidence with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid among the notable scalps on their long unbeaten run.

The visitors were far from overawed early on as they started impressively without ever seriously threatening Alisson Becker's goal.

Liverpool struggled to get going until a defence-splitting pass from Jones freed Salah to gallop clear and coolly slot in his 50th European goal for the club on 34 minutes.

Jones had to be replaced at half-time in an injury concern for Slot, who also took the chance to rest Ryan Gravenberch for the second 45 minutes as Elliot and Alexis Mac Allister were introduced.

Lille's task looked impossible when Aissa Mandi was sent off for a second bookable offence for chopping down Luis Diaz.

Yet, within three minutes, Liverpool's club-record European run without conceding was brought to an end.

David swept home the rebound after Hakon Arnar Haraldsson's effort had been blocked by Kostas Tsimikas.

Liverpool had not conceded for one minute shy of 10 hours since Christian Pulisic struck for AC Milan inside the first three minutes of their opening Champions League game of the season.

But it took just five minutes to restore the lead as Elliott's strike from the edge of the area took a huge deflection off Ngal'ayel Mukau to wrong-foot Lucas Chevalier.

- Agence France-Presse

MAN UNITED NEAR DEAL FOR BOLOGNA STRIKER

Joshua Zirkzee came off the bench for the Netherlands in their quarterfinal win over Turkey on Saturday. Christina Pahnke - sampics/Getty Images

 Manchester United are closing in on a deal for Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee, a source has told ESPN.

United have reached a broad agreement over payments relating to Zirkzee's representatives, which had been a stumbling block, and will now seek to reach a deal with Bologna.

Zirkzee has a release clause of £34 million ($43.5m) in his contract which is valid until August, but United may look to negotiate a different deal.

The 23-year-old, who has also been subject of interest from AC Milan, is part of the Netherlands squad preparing for their Euro 2024 semifinal against England in Dortmund on Wednesday.

Zirkzee has emerged as United's preferred striker target after they also considered both Lille's Jonathan David and Brentford's Ivan Toney.

Chelsea have also shown interest in David, who has one year left on his contract at Lille and is available for around £25m.

Zirkzee scored 12 goals for Bologna last season as they finished fifth in Serie A, qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in the modern era.

A source has told ESPN that United remain in contact with Bayern Munich over a deal for Zirkzee's international teammate, Matthijs de Ligt.

The German side are willing to negotiate the defender's exit and value the 24-year-old at more than £40m. United have already seen a bid turned down for Everton centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite this summer.

Bringing in a striker, a centre-back and a central midfielder are United's priorities in the summer window. Dan Ashworth has now taken control of recruitment following his arrival as sporting director last week.

Midfielder Donny van de Beek, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt, is set to join Girona in a permanent deal worth around £420,000. The fee could increase depending on his success at Girona.

United signed the former Netherlands international midfielder from Ajax in a £40m deal in 2020.

United players who have not taken part in either the European Championship or the Copa América are expected back at Carrington for the start of preseason training on Monday.

Ten Hag has boosted his backroom staff by adding to its Dutch contingent, with legendary striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake agreeing two-year deals with the club.

- Rob Dawson, Correspondent

FRENCH CUP TEAM LOSES 12-0 AMID 8,000-MILE ROUND TRIP

 

Golden Lion proved no match for Ligue 1 side Lille. SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images

Martinique side Golden Lion suffered a humbling 12-0 defeat by Lille in the French Cup on Saturday midway through an 8,000-mile round trip to play the match.

Golden Lion, the champions of Martinique and one of several overseas teams from the French territories to enter the Cup, were drawn against Ligue 1 Lille in the round of 64 and their journey began on Wednesday with a direct flight to Paris.

Three days later, they were no match for Lille, however, as the top-division side recorded their biggest-ever victory.