Lorient frustrated by Reims

Ten-man Lorient were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw with Reims despite largely dominating at the Stade du Moustoir.

Ten-man Lorient were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw with Reims despite largely dominating at the Stade du Moustoir. Lorient had lost seven of their last nine matches prior to Saturday night but had several chances to take all three points against Hubert Fournier's men before losing Maxime Barthelme to a red card inside the final 20 minutes. Reims could not maintain their three-match winning run but may have been happy to come away from Brittany with a goalless draw after being firmly pinned back in their own half for the opening 45 minutes. Barthelme saw a shot on the edge of the area well blocked and from the resulting Alain Traore corner on the right, Cameroon forward Vincent Aboubakar saw his header cannon off the crossbar. Lorient continued to put pressure on the visitors, with Traore crossing for to an unmarked Kevin Monnet-Paquet, whose strike was well palmed away by Reims goalkeeper Kossi Agassa. Portuguese midfielder Raphael Guerreiro fired narrowly over the bar as Reims kept their goal intact up until the break. The hosts were almost made to pay for their profligacy on the resumption as Floyd Ayite's corner was headed goalwards by Odair Fortes only for Guerreiro to clear off his own line. Mickael Tacalfred then came to the visitors' rescue soon after as Aboubakar's lob left Agassa well beaten but the Reims captain headed clear. Lorient were reduced to 10 men in the 72nd minute as Barthelme, in just his second match back following a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a biceps injury, saw red for a nasty challenge Grzegorz Krychowiak. Despite being a man light, it was the hosts who nearly stole victory at the death but Guerreiro's strike from just outside the area was superbly saved by Agassa.