Girondins de Bordeaux missed the chance to move provisionally up to fifth place in Ligue 1 after losing 1-0 away to SC Bastia on Saturday.
Midfielder Adama Ba scored the winning goal in the 42nd minute of a hard-fought match as Bastia moved up to 12th, one place ahead of OGC Nice, who beat Ajaccio 2-0 thanks to goals in each half from Belgian midfielder Christian Bruls and Argentine striker Dario Cvitanich’s eighth of the season.
Following a bright spell of form, eighth-placed Bordeaux have lost three straight games in all competitions and lost 3-1 at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France quarter-finals last week.
Photo: AFP
Bordeaux coach Francis Gillot was angry with his players, saying: “We’re asking ourselves how we could have lost this match. We didn’t take our chances and the first one they get they score an off-side goal, in my opinion.”
Gillot was without forwards Jussie of Brazil, Cheick Diabate of Mali and recently signed Guillaume Hoarau.
Elsewhere, Lorient went up to ninth place after beating En Avant de Guingamp 2-0 at home, while Olympique de Marseille’s match against Valenciennes was postponed because of torrential rain.
Lorient took control early on with two goals inside the first 12 minutes from midfielder Yoann Jouffre and forward Kevin Monnet-Paquet.
In other games, Stade Rennais and Evian Thonon Gaillard played out a scoreless draw, while Sochaux-Montbeliard fell 2-0 to Montpellier Herault.
Rennes challenged for a European place last season, but are languishing in 15th place and are six points above the relegation zone.
Draw specialists Montpellier went ahead through winger Anthony Mounier in the 20th and things got worse for strugglers Sochaux when Nathan Sinkaka was sent off in the 34th minute after picking up his second yellow card.
Defender Siaka Tiene sealed the win in the 74th as former champions Montpellier climbed up to 16th under new coach Rolland Courbis.
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