AS Monaco are 45 minutes away from securing Champions League football for next season after Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco's goal gave them the lead at Lorient.
As it stands, Les Rouges et Blanc find themselves in third place, ahead of Marseille, who lead at home to Bastia.
Leonardo Jardim's men made a fast start at the Stade du Moustoir as Joao Moutinho's third-minute effort from the edge of the area was saved by Benjamin Lecomte.
Lecomte was again called into action in the early minutes when he needed to reach low down to turn away Bernardo Silva's shot.
On 20 minutes, however, Monaco did make the breakthrough as Silva's threaded pass found the run of Ferreira-Carrasco, and the forward slotted the ball past a helpless Lorient keeper.
The Monagasques were in little mood to rest on their lead and would have extended that advantage but for Anthony Martial's misdirected header just before the half-hour mark.
Lorient rarely troubled Danijel Subasic in the opening period, but the Croatian international needed to be alert to keep his team ahead when saving Jordan Ayew's effort before the interval.
Chris O'Keefe
