Lorient on the up

Lorient moved up to fourth with their third straight win at the expense of struggling Sochaux.

Lorient moved up to fourth in Ligue 1 with their third straight win at the expense of struggling Sochaux. Christian Gourcuff's side went into the game on the back of a hugely-impressive 3-0 success at Marseille and they were clinical again tonight. Alain Traore powerfully fired home the first from 30 yards shortly before the break and Lamine Kone got a second goal early in the second half. The hosts started brightly with Traore teeing up Jeremie Aliadiere, whose fierce effort from the edge of the area was kept out by a diving Simon Pouplin. Third-bottom Sochaux responded with Vincent Nogueira seeing an effort deflected over and Ishmael Yartey running on to a Ryad Boudebouz through-ball and shooting just over. Pouplin again had to be alert to push away a Traore shot after he pounced on a poor clearance out of defence, but the Burkina Faso striker was on the scoresheet in the 43rd minute. Another poor clearance was diverted from Aliadiere to Traore, who fizzed a long-range effort in off the left-hand post. The hosts were quicker out of the blocks in the second half, with the busy Pouplin turning behind a Benjamin Corgnet shot after Aliadiere had flicked the ball into his path. Kone doubled the lead in the 52nd minute as again Pouplin's defenders let him down. The goalkeeper pulled off a fine double save to keep out efforts from Gregory Bourillon and then Aliadiere following a Traore corner, but he could do nothing as Kone followed up to finish at the third time of asking. The visitors looked to mount a response as Yartey had a shot turned behind by goalkeeper Fabien Audard, but Pouplin continued to be their most impressive performer. With 20 minutes to go he got down to block an Aliadiere shot from the left of the area. Sochaux still looked for a way back and Cedric Bakambu's header from a Boudebouz free-kick worked Audard, but impressive Lorient stood firm.