Ligue 1: Much-needed victory for Lorient

Basement dwellers Lorient climbed off the bottom of the table with a 1-0 win over Lens.

Raphael Guerreiro scored the only goal of the game in the 22nd minute, but by that point Lens were already down to 10 men with Loic Landre having been sent off.

Lens now sit bottom of the table, with Lorient's third win of the campaign pushing them out of the drop zone.

They were giving a helping hand, though, with Landre seeing red 15 minutes in when he ploughed into Valentin Lavigne and left the referee no option, with his victim leaving the field on a stretcher.

Lorient took the lead seven minutes later. Gilles Sunu fed Walid Mesloub, he crossed and Guerreiro did the rest to beat Remy Riou with a first-time strike.

The home side were keen to add a second for safety and Jordan Ayew should have got it, firing wide when clean through, going wide as Ahmed Kantari closed him down.

Lens nearly responded with an equaliser as the half-time whistle approached, Pablo Chavarria shaving the post with a close-range strike.

Lorient returned to the front foot after the break, Ayew getting clear again and this time scoring only to see the offside flag raised.

Sunu then stormed into the box and drove in a shot which Riou pushed away, with Sunu also failing on the rebound.

Remy had to be at his best to stop Guerreiro getting a second, with the keeper also impressing as he clawed away a Mesloub lob.

Lens had nothing left and would have lost by more were it not for their goalkeeper, who also denied Ayew as the clock ran down.