Troyes vs Lorient. French Ligue 1.
Stade de L'Aube.
Sunday 26 August 2012 11:21, UK
Troyes keeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien went from hero to villain as Lorient twice came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw.
Troyes keeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien went from hero to villain as Lorient twice came from behind to earn a deserved 2-2 draw. Benjamin Nivet's fluke early goal and Mounir Obbadi's second-half strike saw Troyes twice take the lead. But the visitors equalised on each occasion through Maxime Barthelme and Arnold Mvuemba, the latter with a penalty conceded by Thuram-Ulien. Lorient's consistent pressure also saw Alain Traore hit the post and Kevin Monnet-Pacquet go close to a late winner. The hosts were ahead inside three minutes when Nivet's powerful cross from the right of the penalty area flew straight into the top corner, taking keeper Fabien Audard by surprise. Lorient were quick to respond and Thuram-Ulien three times had to keep them at bay even before their 18th-minute equaliser. The home keeper made a one-on-one save from Gilles Sunu in the seventh minute and then, within a minute of each other, blocked Traore's shot from the edge of the box and then tipped away Yann Jouffre's effort. The pressure had to tell eventually but it took something special from Barthelme, whose ferocious drive from wide on the left of the penalty area skimmed the post before beating Thuram-Ulien. The keeper was beaten again by Traore's free-kick in the 26th minute and was relieved to see the ball crash back off the upright and into open play. It remained all square up to the interval, but once again Troyes took the lead early in the second half. Obbadi was the scorer in the 52nd minute, beating the offside trap on the right of the penalty area and hammered the ball into the top corner. But the lead this time lasted only eight minutes before Thuram-Ulien blotted his copybook by fouling Jouffre in the penalty area and Mvuemba stepped up to send him the wrong way from the spot. Lorient could have taken all three points when Mathias Autret crossed for fellow substitute Monnet-Pacquet at the near post, but the forward's effort was inches over the bar.
