A cagey opening from both sides saw just one off-target effort in the opening 15 minutes, when Ansu Fati could only direct his header over the crossbar.
With possession fairly even, a lot of the action was taking place in a congested midfield, and that only succeeded in seeing a lot of square balls played or passed back to the defence. As a spectacle, it was a tough watch, and Matthis Abline’s wayward 25-yard effort into the crowd summed up how poor the game had been.
Monaco left gaps behind the full-backs to exploit as they began to push forward, and though Lorient’s Arsene Kouassi did just that on a number of occasions, he was unable to pick out a teammate with a final ball.
Ibrahima Balde’s sublime skill carved out an excellent opportunity on the half-hour, but as he pulled the trigger, his effort was blocked. Three further efforts from the visitors before half-time suggested dominance, but none were close to opening the deadlock in a tedious encounter.
Within two minutes of the restart, Monaco had seen three more chances come and go. Lorient’s physicality ensured they remained in the game, with Montassar Talbi and Nathaniel Adjei, who had won nine duels between them by the end of the match, forming a brick wall that the visitors just couldn’t seem to breach.
A clumsy challenge from Monaco’s Flavio Nazhinho on Dembo Sylla saw the hosts awarded a penalty on the hour, and Noah Cadiou’s confident right-footed shot gave Lukas Hradecky no chance.
The onus was on Monaco to chase the game, and they were certainly on the front foot; however, with 10 minutes left to play, just three of their 13 shots had been on target. In fact, Lorient came closest to scoring when Sylla’s shot from outside the area came back off the upright.
Though the result means the hosts still only have four wins from their last 11 competitive home games (D3, L4), by virtue of the three points gained, they’ve moved up six places in the table. Monaco now sit fourth on 14 points, the same amount as the three teams above them.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lamine Camara (AS Monaco)