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| Auxerre strengthened their hold on second place |
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Auxerre strengthened their hold on second place in Ligue 1 as they ran riot against a Lorient side who finished with nine men.
Dennis Oliech and Ireneusz Jelen gave the hosts a 2-0 half-time lead and Valter Birsa made it three before Jeremy Morel was sent off.
Kevin Gameiro pulled a goal back but visiting goalkeeper Maxime Audard was sent off after conceding the penalty from which Cedric Hengbart made it 4-1.
Lorient were actually first to threaten as Gameiro's back-heel set up Morgan Amalfitano, but his shot shaved the post on its way out of play.
Oliech saw a long-range shot blocked by Audard, who then made a superb save to deny Jelen after Birsa's precise through-ball.
But the pressure told in the 34th minute when a swift Auxerre break ended with Daniel Niculae playing in Oliech to beat the keeper and set his side on their way.
And Jelen immediately doubled their advantage with an opportunist strike after Sylvain Marchal's error.
Arnold Mvuemba went close for Lorient five minutes after the interval when he curled a free-kick over the crossbar, but the margin was soon three goals.
The goal was all Birsa's own work as he ran at the defence and fired the ball into the top left corner from outside the area.
Morel collected his second booking in the 58th minute, Birsa smashing the resulting free-kick against the post, but James Fanchone played in Gameiro to score against the run of play in the 82nd minute with home goalkeeper Olivier Sorin out of position.
That was as good as it got, however, as Audard brought down Jelen in the penalty area three minutes from time. Jelen went off injured, Audard was dismissed and Hengbart converted despite the makeshift keeper, full-back Franco Sosa, diving the right way.
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