AS Monaco got their title bid off to a stuttering start by losing 2-1 to Lorient in their Ligue 1 opener on Sunday.
Lorient substitute Valentin Lavigne scored the winning goal with a low strike in the 87th minute.
Vincent Aboubakar initially put Lorient ahead from the penalty spot in the ninth minute, but Monaco striker Radamel Falcao also converted a spot-kick to level in the 78th.
Photo: Reuters
Monaco were down to 10 men in the 68th minute when Ricardo Carvalho picked up a second yellow card for fouling Lorient substitute Walid Mesloub.
“There was sometimes too much space between the lines, especially between the midfielders and the forwards,” Monaco midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia said. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’ll do anything to win next week.”
A depleted Olympique Lyonnais beat Stade Rennais 2-0 earlier on Sunday.
Lorient capitalized on their first scoring chance when Aboubakar beat the offside trap and cut inside Monaco centerback Aymen Abdennour, who tripped him. The Cameroon forward sent goalkeeper Danijel Subasic the wrong way to open the scoring.
Monaco troubled the visitors by finding space on the left flank, but Lorient goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte stopped a header from striker Dimitar Berbatov in the 26th minute and an effort from leftback Layvin Kurzawa in the 30th.
The visitors also proved shaky on set-pieces as Lorient centerback Yoann Wachter nearly scored an own-goal by diverting a corner onto the post in the 43rd minute.
Lorient were under siege, but Lecomte denied winger Yannick Ferreira Carrasco in the 54th minute and tipped a header from Berbatov around the post in the 71st.
Falcao replaced Lucas Ocampos in the 59th minute and equalized by firing his penalty into the top corner after Lorient centerback Lamine Kone brought down Berbatov.
In the closing minutes, Lorient took advantage of their numerical superiority to finish off a counterattack as Lavigne collected a through-ball from Raffidine Abdullah to beat Subasic.
“Our project is to build a team that plays with a high defensive line,” Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim said. “We still hope to sign a defender. This team is not used to playing with a high defensive line.”
Monaco sold James Rodriguez, the top scorer at the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil, to Real Madrid, but have not made any major signing in the transfer window yet.
Last season’s runners-up also lost forward Emmanuel Riviere to Newcastle United and defender Eric Abidal to Olympiakos.
At the Stade de Gerland, Lyon substitute Steed Malbranque scored with a curling shot in the 64th minute and striker Alexandre Lacazette converted a penalty in the 73rd.
Lyon played without Clement Grenier, Yoann Gourcuff, Gueida Fofana, Mouhamadou Dabo, Milan Bisevac and Henri Bedimo, all injured, while Bakary Kone was suspended.
“We eroded Rennes’ physical potential in the first half by dominating possession and making them run,” Lyon coach Hubert Fournier said. “We just needed to be patient and more accurate technically to convert our numerous chances.”
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