Marseille close gap on leaders Lyon with Bastia win

Marseille have bounced back from their 3-0 home defeat to Lorient on Sunday with a 2-1 away victory over Bastia in Ligue 1.

Elie Baup's side dominated proceedings at Stade Armand Césari and opened the scoring in the 15th minute.

Mathieu Valbuena found himself with a headed pass from Rod Fanni inside the Bastia penalty box and volleyed home.

Andre Ayew and Jordan Ayew both had good chances for the visitors as the game progressed, and the duo combined for their second goal of the evening midway through the second half.

Jordan went down under a challenge from Landry Bonnefoi inside the Bastia penalty box, and Andre successfully converted the subsequent spot kick.

However, with eight minutes left on the clock, Bastia halved the deficit, as Jerome Rothen sent Anthony Modeste through on goal for a cool finish from inside the Marseille area.

The hosts went close on a couple of occasions in the final minutes of the match, but failed to find the equaliser.

The result means that Marseille remain third in the table with 32 points from 17 matches, just three points behind leaders Lyon.