Valentin Lavigne scored a late winner as Lorient beat 10-man AS Monaco in their opening match of the Ligue 1 season this evening.

© AFP

Lorient had the chance to break the deadlock inside the opening 10 minutes when Aymen Abdennour charged into Vincent Aboubakar to give away a penalty.

The striker stepped up to take the spot kick himself, coolly firing into the bottom left corner to put the visitors ahead.

Dimitar Berbatov and Layvin Kurzawa both had chances to get the home side back on level terms before half time, but Benjamin Lecomte saved both of their efforts.

Berbatov and Lucas Ocampos both threatened early in the second half as Monaco continued to look for the equaliser, but Lorient defended strongly to clear the danger.

Lecomte had to remain alert as Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco created a string of chances, but the keeper denied the winger twice in the space of a minute.

The home side's hopes of getting the goal back were dealt a blow with just over 10 minutes to go when Ricardo Carvalho picked up his second yellow card of the day, reducing Monaco to 10 men.

However, last season's Ligue 1 runners-up were handed a lifeline when Lamine Kone brought down Berbatov in the box, allowing Radamel Falcao to level the scores from the penalty box.

Lorient pressed in the final minutes as they looked to make the most of their numerical advantage, and they found a way through when Rafidine Abdullah slotted the ball forward for Lavigne following a quick break to secure the win for the visitors.