After three successive defeats before the winter break, Monaco’s losing habits were threatening to end their chances of getting into the European spots.
Les Monegasques knew playing first this round would help them at least provisionally put some early pressure on the top six, with Aleksandr Golovin taking matters into his own hands after 15 minutes when he jinked his way into the area and hammered an effort straight at Yvon Mvogo at his near post.
Pablo Pagis then fired a warning to the hosts shortly after when he worked a yard in the area and flashed a left-footed effort narrowly wide of the post, as Lorient showed in flashes that they were certainly in this game.
Lorient were competitive throughout, and in the closing stages of the first half, it was the away side creating the positive moments in the final third.
Bamba Dieng came close when his stinging drive from the edge of the area was well gathered by Philipp Kohn, but just moments later, Les Merlus thought they had broken Monaco’s resistance.
It was the influential duo of Pagis and Dieng involved down the left, with the former cutting back for the visitors’ striker to sweep home what he thought was the opener, only for the linesman to raise his flag after a Lorient player had strayed in front of Kohn when Dieng struck his effort.
Monaco’s attacking offerings were few and far between, a point highlighted by the fact that the closest they came to breaking the deadlock inside the opening hour was when Maghnes Akliouche’s inadvertent touch looped awkwardly over Mvogo and landed on the roof of the net.
Channelling a burning sense of injustice from being denied in the first half, Dieng finally broke the deadlock on 69 minutes when he turned away from Eric Dier, strode through on goal, and slotted home his second goal in as many matches.
However, their lead lasted a mere eight minutes, as falling behind seemed to spark Monaco into action, drawing level when Ansu Fati finished the second time of asking after first being denied by a sensational Mvogo stop.
The final 10 minutes were played out almost exclusively in Lorient’s half, but Les Merlus hit the hosts with the ultimate suckerpunch five minutes from time when Jean-Victor Makengo’s deflected effort nestled in the bottom corner.
Dermane Karim then rounded off the victory in style moments later when he curled home a third, which secured a famous win for Lorient and left Monaco ninth in the table, one point ahead of tonight’s victors in 12th.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jean-Victor Makengo (Lorient)