Soccer-Monaco consolidate second spot with 4-1 win over lowly Clermont, Brest draw at Nantes

Soccer Football – Europa League – Play-Off Second Leg – AS Monaco v Bayer Leverkusen – Stade Louis II, Monaco, France – February 23, 2023 AS Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/ File Photo

MONACO (Reuters) -Wissam Ben Yedder’s brace helped AS Monaco strengthen their hold on second place in Ligue 1 with a 4-1 home win over relegation battling Clermont on Saturday, leaving the visitors rooted to the bottom of the table.

Monaco have 61 points with two games left, nine behind Paris St Germain, who have already secured the league title, and four ahead of Brest, who drew 0-0 with Nantes on Saturday.

Brest, who have qualified for Europe for the first time, are desperate to secure a top-four finish to earn a Champions League spot as they sit third on 57 points, two clear of Lille, who face Olympique Lyonnais on Monday.

Monaco opened the scoring in the 16th minute when a headed clearance fell to Takumi Minamino who had time to tee up his shot from outside the area before curling the ball into the top corner.

Clermont levelled after 34 minutes, with Muhammed Cham tapping home from close range but Monaco were back in front three minutes later when Breel Embolo hit a first time shot to the far corner from a Ben Yedder pass.

Monaco extended their lead 12 minutes after the break. Minamino’s ball into the area was mis-hit by defender Andy Pelmard leaving Ben Yedder with the easy task of firing past the keeper. Ben Yedder netted again three minutes from time.

Clermont are bottom of the table on 25 points, four behind Metz who lost 3-2 at Rennes on Saturday.

Metz, who dropped to 16th, could have condemned Clermont to relegation to Ligue 2, but were unable to beat Rennes at home after Arnaud Kalimuendo’s last-minute strike in stoppage time.

Also in the relegation battle are Lorient on 26 points, who lost 2-0 at Lens on Friday.

(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, additional reporting Angelica MedinaEditing by Christian Radnedge)