Lorient back on track with Lille win

Lorient returned to winning ways in style this evening with a 2-0 French Ligue 1 victory over Lille at the Stade du Moustoir. Gregory Bourillon opened the scoring after 24 minutes and Benjamin Corgnet put the result beyond doubt with a second goal midway through the second half. The result lifted Christian Gourcuff's side, who headed into the match having not won in their previous seven league games and having leaked 19 goals during that period, up to tenth in the standings - two points behind seventh-place LOSC. The game could hardly have got off to a better start for the hosts, who dominated the early exchanges and duly took a deserved lead. Yann Jouffre delivered the free-kick from the left and Bourillon rose higher than Salomon Kalou to head into the top corner. It could have been 2-0 12 minutes later when Jouffre set up Corgnet for a volley which was superbly kept out by Lille goalkeeper Mickael Landreau. Rudi Garcia's side, who could have moved level on points with leaders Paris St Germain and Marseille with victory, mustered their first attack of note seven minutes before half-time. But Lorient goalkeeper Fabien Audard kept out Kalou's curling effort after the former Chelsea man had been set up by Mathieu Debuchy. Lorient were soon back on the front foot, though, and went within a whisker of doubling their lead again when Kevin Monnet-Paquet's effort from a tight angle skimmed the post on its way wide. The game continued in the same pattern after the interval, Jeremie Aliadiere getting the better of Marko Basa only to fire his left-footed shot inches over the bar. Audard had to be alert soon after to deflect a Dimitri Payet blast away to safety, and that proved crucial in the 69th minute when Lorient put daylight between themselves and their opponents with a second goal. Aliadiere led the counter-attack before sending the ball out to the right for Corgnet, who slammed a low drive past Landreau. The scoreline could have been even more emphatic 13 minutes from time when Corgnet's ball found Monnet-Paquet unmarked in the box, but he lashed just wide. From FIFA