Ludovic Blas-ts Nantes to hard-fought victory

Having failed to find the net in two successive league matches on home soil, Nantes made a bright start, with Florent Mollet seeing an early effort thwarted by Vito Mannone in the Lorient goal. The visitors slowly grew into the contest after a cagey start, and came close to finding the breakthrough, as Julien Ponceau - still searching for his first goal of the campaign - fired a long-range strike narrowly wide of the target.

Both sides continued to grapple with the momentum during a closely-fought opening period, however clear-cut chances at both ends of the pitch were few and far between. Ludovic Blas looked the player most likely to threaten a breakthrough, but a combination of poor decision-making in the final third and solid Lorient defending kept the scores level going into the break.

Aiming to improve on their highest Ligue 1 finish of seventh in 2009/10, Lorient emerged after the restart eager to take control of proceedings. Yoann Cathline saw a sharp strike thwarted by Alban Lafont, while Ponceau’s powerful goal-bound effort was superbly blocked by some last-ditch defending from the hosts. With time ticking into the final 25 minutes, Nantes punished the visitors for their profligacy in front of goal, as the impressive Blas weaved his way to the edge of the box, before firing a clinical strike into the bottom corner.

Lorient went in pursuit of a late equaliser, as they upped the ante with time running out, but the Nantes rearguard held firm to secure an impressive three points. The triumph gives Nantes a comfortable 10-point cushion over the Ligue 1 relegation zone, while Lorient lose crucial ground in the race for Europe, sitting five points adrift of LOSC Lille in fifth place.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Ludovic Blas (Nantes)