Lorient halt losing streak

Vincent Aboukar scored a first-half penalty as Lorient halted a two-match losing streak to claim a point from their 1-1 draw at Reims.

Vincent Aboukar scored a first-half penalty as Lorient halted a two-match losing streak to claim a point from their 1-1 Ligue 1 draw against Reims at Stade Auguste Delaune. The visitors took the lead through Aboukar's penalty in first-half stoppage time before Odair Fortes struck back four minutes after the break for Hubert Fournier's side. The point - which was only the home side's second in their past four league games - leaves Reims in seventh, while Christian Gourcuff's men remain 12th before Sunday's clashes between Lille and Guingamp, and Rennes and Bastia. The match took a while to get going but it was Lorient that could have taken the lead after 17 minutes had Jeremy Aliadiere managed to get past goalkeeper Kossi Agassa, who blocked the former Middlesbrough striker's close-range volley. The away side continued to press and five minutes before the break, Kevin Monnet-Paquet freed Lamine Gassamajust outside the penalty box, but his thunderbolt was deflected over the bar by Agassa. Their goal finally came in the second minute of added time after Togo international Agassa fouled Aliadiere and Aboukar stepped up and made no mistake as he sent the ball to the right for his 13th goal of the season as Agassa moved left. But the home side struck back four minutes into the second half as Gaetan Charbonnier picked out Fortes with a backward pass to confuse the visiting goalkeeper as his fellow striker smashed the ball home from close range to level the scores. Lorient almost took the lead for the second time after 70 minutes as Raphael Guerreiro released Aboubakar, who was unmarked on the right, and he tried a lob on Agassa - but the keeper held his shot out. The home side were also looking for a winner which almost came with five minutes to go, but Gaetan Courtet's shot sailed over the bar.