With 12 of their 14 Ligue 1 points this season prior to kick-off coming on home turf, Lorient will have known the visit of Lyon, who had won just one of their previous five games, presented a relatively good opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone.
They were clearly the better of the two sides in the first half, and went close to beating Dominik Greif on several occasions. The visiting goalkeeper first needed to be alert to keep out Jean-Victor Makengo’s low effort, while Sambou Soumano failed to connect with the ball despite the goal being at his mercy following a cross.
Both of those chances came in the opening 10 minutes, and Greif was tested again when he held Soumano’s header.
Lyon finally created an opening of their own when Martin Satriano forced Yvon Mvogo to tip his header over the crossbar, but they soon survived another double scare when Pablo Pagis’ curling free-kick hit the post before Bamo Meite somehow skewed an effort wide when unmarked from close range.
In a game that was beginning to heat up, Mvogo produced a fantastic one-handed stop to keep out Mathys De Carvalho’s volley before a three-minute spell towards the end of the first half gave Lorient control.
First, Pagis hammered beyond Greif from close range after being fortuitously found by Soumano, before Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent off for a second bookable offence in the space of five minutes to give Les Merlus a numerical advantage.
Despite being a man down, Lyon saw plenty of the ball after the break, even if they struggled to do much with it; Hans Hateboer's deflected shot over the crossbar was their only real attempt before the 70-minute mark.
At the other end, Arsene Kouassi’s low drive was comfortably saved by Greif in a second period that lacked the goalmouth action of the first.
With Lorient in front, the onus was on Lyon to set the tempo, and they finally threatened when Mvogo had to push Corentin Tolisso’s overhead kick over the crossbar.
The Swiss also thwarted Afonso Moreira, but despite Lyon’s fight, they were unable to salvage anything from the game, and could’ve fallen further behind when Kouassi hit the post late on.
The result means Lyon are now without a win in five away games, leaving them as many points away from the division’s top three.
Meanwhile, Lorient are now six points clear of the relegation play-off spot, although they will be eager to use their home form as inspiration as they look to improve their away results in the coming weeks.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Pablo Pagis (Lorient)
