Late show from Lorient

Ten-man Lorient preserved their unbeaten start to the season but left it late to secure a point against Nice.

Ten-man Lorient preserved their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season but left it late to secure a point against Nice. The visitors led for much of the match through Camel Meriem's first-half goal and the dismissal of Gregory Bourillon did little to ease Lorient's nerves. But substitute Kevin Monnet-Paquet brought the home crowd to their feet in the final minute with his equaliser. Things looked promising for Lorient in the early stages and Jeremie Aliadiere served an early warning to their opponents, running on to a pass from Ludovic Giuly before hitting a shot which was well held by goalkeeper Joris Delle. Another chance followed for Aliadiere, who was again played in by Giuly - but Delle pulled off a second excellent save to keep the scores level. Nice had done little to impress so far and it was something of a surprise when they took the lead seven minutes before the interval. It was a goal worth waiting for, however, with Wesley Lautoa's attempted clearance from Eric Bautheac falling to Meriem, who slammed a stunning volley into the net. The visitors then looked to build on their lead in the second half and Dario Cvitanich raced into the area before unleashing a shot which had to be palmed away by home keeper Benjamin Lecomte. Lorient were begin to feel the pressure and their evening suffered a further dip after 66 minutes when defender Bourillon was shown a straight red card for an elbow on Cvitanich. The hosts rallied, though, and Delle was called upon once more to keep out a 30-yard drive from Benjamin Corgnet. However, the Nice goalkeeper was finally beaten in the dying seconds when Yann Jouffre's long ball forward was slammed home by the left boot of Monnet-Paquet.