AS Monaco gave away an early penalty to give Lorient a 1-0 lead at half time in their opening match of the new Ligue 1 season.

The visitors were handed the opportunity to take the lead less than 10 minutes into the tie when Aymen Abdennour charged into Vincent Aboubakar in the box.

The striker stepped up to take the spot kick himself, blasting his penalty into the bottom left corner to give Lorient the lead.

Dimitar Berbatov had a chance to get Monaco back on level terms shortly before the half-hour mark, but the striker's header was comfortably saved.

Geoffrey Kondogbia picked out Layvin Kurzawa as the hosts continued to push for an equaliser, but Benjamin Lecomte made the save again for Lorient.