Three and easy for Lorient

Nice's dramatic slide down the standings continued on Saturday as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Lorient.

Nice's dramatic slide down the Ligue 1 standings continued on Saturday as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of a Lorient side who started the day just outside the relegation zone. Nice were fifth following their win over Marseille on October 18 but since then they have suffered five successive defeats and now find themselves in 15th spot following their latest setback. Kevin Monnet-Paquet's 17th-minute goal set Lorient on their way, and it was 2-0 in the 72nd minute when Jordan Amavi put through his own goal. Vincent Aboubakar then wrapped up Lorient's win with a third goal in the last minute. Lorient's win lifts them above Nice on goal difference and is further proof that Christian Gourcuff's men are starting to click. They came into the match having picked up seven points from their last four games - having previously taken just one point from a possible 18 - and with confidence boosted by last weekend's 4-0 win at Evian. They survived an early scare on Saturday when Fabrice Abriel fired just over following an excellent counter-attack, but soon after that the home side were in front. Yann Jouffre robbed Christian Bruls of possession and immediately freed Sadio Diallo, who in turn set up Monnet-Paquet to slot home at the far post. Lorient came within inches of making it 2-0 two minutes later but Aboubakar's thumping near-post header crashed against the post with Lucas Veronese beaten. Lorient never lost their lead, but they had a couple of let-offs before doubling their advantage midway through the second half. First, Gregoire Puel brought a full-stretch save out of home goalkeeper Fabien Audard following a good Nice move just before the break, and then in the 61st minute Didier Digard saw his 25-yard free-kick miss by inches. Ten minutes later Lorient made it 2-0 and there was no way back for Nice after that. Veronese came out on top in his one-on-one with Aboubakar but the loose ball fell to Jouffre whose shot towards an open goal was deflected in by Amavi as he tried to clear. Aboubakar then added a third in stoppage time to add gloss to the victory, the Cameroon international picking up a pass from Alain Traore, skipping past a couple of defenders before firing in a left-footed shot just inside the post.