Bastia defeat nine-man Nice with 2-1 victory at the Stade Armand Cesari

Goals from Guillaume Gillet and Giovanni Sio ensured that Bastia came from a goal down to beat nine-man Nice 2-1 at the Stade Armand Cesari in Ligue 1 this evening.

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Bastia's Sio appeared threatening in the opening minutes of the game and he tested Mouez Hassen with a driven shot down towards the bottom-right corner.

The game's first goal arrived in the 18th minute as Nice took the lead through Carlos Eduardo's close-range finish, after he had been picked out by a cross from Eric Bautheac.

Their lead was not to last more than eight minutes, however, as Bastia's Gillet restored parity with a headed finish from a free kick.

Nice's chances of securing a win were threatened just before the break when Gregoire Puel was given a straight red card for a nasty challenge on Gael Danic.

Bastia made them pay after half time as they took the lead through Sio, who provided the finish after a perfectly-executed counter-attack led by Floyd Ayite.

The hosts might have made the last 15 minutes a little less stressful had Junior Tallo been a little more accurate with a header.

Ghislain Printant's side were afforded a rather easy route to the victory in the closing minutes as the visitors lost another of their players, with Souleymane Diawara this time dismissed for fighting.