Ligue 1 wrap: Lyon stumble again, Lille stunned

Lyon’s Ligue 1 title hopes have copped another blow as Bastia thrashed Remi Garde’s team 4-1, while Lille also suffered a shock loss.

Florian Thauvin scored either side of half-time for Bastia as the Corsican club continued Lyon’s terrible form on the Mediterranean island and moved five points clear of the relegation zone in France’s top flight.

Lyon had lost on 17 of their past 26 trips to Corsica and despite dominating possession on Saturday, struggled throughout the match to handle Bastia’s speed on the counter-attack.

Bastia took the lead in the shadows of half-time after a failed set-piece opportunity from Lyon.

A clearance sent Wahbi Khazri away and the Tunisian winger bore down on goal before slipping the ball to Thauvin, who slotted past Lyon goalkeeper Remy Vercoutre.

Lisandro Lopez equalised for the visitors in the 54th minute with a fine volley but Bastia were back in front two minutes later when Khazri took a long ball from goalkeeper Mickael Landreau, cut inside and set-up Anthony Modeste for the goal.

Thauvin made it 3-1 just after the hour mark, smashing home Claudio Beauvue’s cut back before Khazri capped off a man-of-the-match performance with a curling shot over Vercoutre in the final minutes.

The loss extends Lyon’s winless streak to three games and means they remain four points behind Ligue 1-leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who have a game in hand.

In Lille, Salomon Kalou went from hero to zero in front of his home fans, scoring an own goal to give Evian a 2-1 victory.

The Ivorian attacker had given Lille the lead in the seventh minute, notching his third goal in four matches
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but Evian were level by half-time after Saber Khelifa’s finished off Cedric Barbosa’s fine pass on the half hour.

But a terrible five second-half minutes from Kalou turned the 27-year-old into the villain for the day as he produced the decisive touch into his own net in the 69th minute and then scooped a penalty over the bar as Lille picked up their first loss in seven league games.

The win was crucial for Evian as the eastern French club moved out of the relegation zone into 15th position.

In the Breton derby, Lorient blitzed Brest in the first half to claim a 4-0 victory, including two goals in the opening eight minutes.

Lorient scored three goals in the first half to destroy their local rivals before Gilles Sunu wrapped up the win in the 81st minute, while reigning champions Montpellier were held to a 1-1 draw by Troyes.

In other results, Reims defeated Rennes 1-0 and Valenciennes snatched a 1-1 draw away to Sochaux thanks to a late goal from Opa N’Guette.