Bordeaux leave it late

Ludovic Obraniak left it late to rescue a deserved point for Bordeaux and deny Lorient's hopes of cutting the gap on the top five.

Ludovic Obraniak left it late to rescue a deserved point for Bordeaux and deny Lorient's hopes of cutting the gap on the top five in Ligue 1 after a 1-1 draw. Bordeaux have been on a lean run of late, with just one win in seven matches before tonight derailing their own push for a European place next season. It seemed likely their problems would continue when Jeremie Aliadiere struck just before half-time. But while Les Girondins improved vastly after the interval, they did not have much luck in front of goal until Obraniak slotted home three minutes from time. A point does neither side much good in the hunt for a European place but it could have been so much worse for Bordeaux, who were on the back foot for large spells of the first half. Lorient midfielder Yann Jouffre curled over the bar with his 25-yard free-kick, while Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso had to make a fine save after Aliadiere had burst into the area before firing on goal. At the other end, Carrasso's opposite number Fabien Audard had to push away Obraniak's powerful effort. It proved a key save as Lorient took a 41st-minute lead when Maxime Barthelme raced into the area before cutting back to Aliadiere, who drove low into the net. Bordeaux boss Francis Gillot will not have been happy with his side's first-half showing and perhaps his team talk at the interval spurred them on as they came back out all guns blazing. Benoit Tremoulinas' picked out Cheick Diabate although the Malian could only head straight at Audard, who had to be alert to keep out Obraniak's left-foot volley, Tremoulinas with the assist again. Obraniak twice tried his luck from distance but found Audard - at full stretch on both occasions - equal to the fierce blasts. It looked like luck would desert the hosts but they kept pushing forward and were duly rewarded after an untimely error from Audard in the 87th minute. The Lorient goalkeeper failed to cut out Tremoulinas' cross from the left and Obraniak seized upon the mistake to tap home and ensure the spoils were shared.