Lens 0 - 0 Lorient - Stalemate in Lens

Strugglers Lens and Lorient played out a frustrating goalless draw at Stade De La Licorne in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

Lens dominated the chances but were unable to find the crucial breakthrough as they remained bottom of the overall standings and nine points adrift of safety - and with the tally currently held by Lorient and Reims.

Lorient had the first chance of the match in the fourth minute when Walid Mesloub released Jordan Ayew in the left of the box but Lens goalkeeper Rudy Riou put the ball behind.

After that it was all Lens, but they could not break the deadlock.

Midfielder Pablo Chavarria crossed the ball towards the Lorient box in the 23rd minute where Baptiste Guillaume saw his low volley blocked by Lorient stopper Benjamin Lecomte.

Loick Landre's on-target 30-yard strike was denied by Lecomte before an excellent reflex save by the goalkeeper kept out Adamo Coulibaly's header five minutes before the break.

The hosts picked up where they left off after the break when Ahmed Kantari's lone run and strike from 35 yards out just crept over the bar before Chavarria's header from Wylan Cyprien's long-range free-kick was inches over.

In the 70th minute, Coulibaly released Cyprien at the edge of the box for a low drive which narrowly missed, with Lecomte tested with four minutes remaining by Cyprien.

The goalkeeper kept out his curling free-kick from 30 yards at full stretch to seal a hard-fought point for his side.