Lorient vs Caen. French Ligue 1.
Stade du MoustoirAttendance12,877.
Saturday 14 March 2015 21:43, UK
Lorient returned to winning ways as they claimed a much-needed 2-1 Ligue 1 victory over 10-man Caen at the Stade du Moustoir on Saturday.
Herve Bazile put the visitors ahead three minutes before the break, but Raphael Guerreiro struck back against his former club moments later with a quick-fire equaliser to level matters at half-time before Jordan Ayew claimed a 60th-minute winner.
The victory - which came after consecutive defeats - moved Sylvain Ripoll's men up two spots to 15th as they sit level on points with their opponents and five points above the relegation zone.
Caen started strongest and could have taken the lead after 10 minutes as Emmanuel Imorou crossed the ball in for Bazile just outside the 18-yard box before the latter sent a terrific shot inches wide.
Down at the other end the hosts had an early chance of their own but goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre did well to get his fingertips on Guerreiro's long-range effort as he deflected the ball to safety.
The visitors lost Damien Da Silva to a red card after 17 minutes for a bad tackle on Benjamin Jeannot's thigh but they still managed to break the deadlock after 42 minutes despite their disadvantage.
Nicolas Seube led a stunning counter attack and found Bazile as the latter dribbled past Lamine Gassama and Lamine Kone to fire a powerful left-footed shot home with home stopper Benjamin Lecomte well beaten.
But one minute later, Lorient struck back through Guerreiro after Walid Mesloub picked out Ayew who flicked the ball on for the Portugal international for a thunderbolt that left Vercoutre motionless.
The hosts pressed after the break as Guerreiro beat Imorou to fire in a close-range chance but Vercoutre made an excellent save two minutes in.
Rafidine Abdullah was next to test the Caen keeper as his great shot was punched clear via both fists after 58 minutes.
But, two minutes later, Lorient netted the winner after Ayew collected Vincent Le Goff's cross and fired home from 20 yards to hand his side maximum points.
