Five in a row for Lorient

Lorient made it five wins in a row as they beat Ajaccio 2-1 to leave their opponents firmly in the relegation zone.

Lorient made it five wins in a row in Ligue 1 on Saturday, beating Ajaccio 2-1 to leave their opponents firmly in the relegation zone. Vincent Aboubakar's opener for the visitors was cancelled out Salim Arrache before the interval - the first goal Lorient have conceded during their winning run. But Jeremie Aliadiere's strike proved decisive as Lorient continued to move the right way up the standings. Ajaccio, however, have not won in the league since the end of September - a run of 11 matches - and lie seven points from safety with only Sochaux keeping them off the bottom. Despite their lowly position, Ajaccio made a fight of it in the first 30 minutes and had the opening chance after four minutes with Benjamin Andre forcing a block from Florent Chaigneau. The Lorient goalkeeper came to the rescue again after 17 minutes, turning away a volley from Junior Tallo, and made it a hat-trick of saves on the half-hour to deny Ricardo Faty from close range. Luck had not been on Ajaccio's side so far and they took another punch when the visitors went ahead after 38 minutes. Yann Jouffre's long ball forward found Aboubakar, who lifted the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa before heading into an empty net. To their credit, Ajaccio refused to bow and they were deservedly level a minute before the interval, with Cedric Hengbart providing a cross into the area where Arrache was waiting to bundle the ball home. Lorient pushed forward more in the second half and Jouffre forced another decent save from Ochoa on the hour mark. Chaigneau was also called into action soon after, palming away Junior Tallo's 20-yard drive. Lorient made the most of the let-off by responding with what proved to be the winning goal after 73 minutes. Maxime Barthelme raced into the area before flicking the ball to former Arsenal forward Aliadiere, who slotted home from close range.