French Ligue 1 match report: Bastia beat 10-man Nantes

Bastia stretched their unbeaten run in Ligue 1 to eight matches as they overcame 10-man Nantes 2-0 at Stade de la Beaujoire.

Goals from Giovanni Sio and Floyd Ayite earned the points for the Coupe de la Ligue finalists, who climbed to 13th in the table with a four-point advantage over the bottom three.

Nantes, who had substitute Fernando Aristeguieta sent off, have not won in the league since December 20, scoring just once during that time, and could be sucked into a relegation battle if they are unable to turn things around.

Things looked promising for Michel Der Zakarian's men in the opening stages.

Chaker Alhadhur had a powerful shot blocked by goalkeeper Alphonse Areola after 15 minutes, while Vincent Bessat picked out Issa Cissokho 10 minutes later for a volley which was a fraction too high.

Bastia then struck the first blow after 29 minutes. Julian Palmieri launched a counter-attack, weaving through several players before serving Francois Kamano, who flicked the ball for Sio to lob a stranded Remy Riou in the home goal.

It took Nantes until the start of the second half to recover but they had enough chances to equalise once they had.

A free-kick from Jordan Veretout was met by Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, but his header was palmed away by Areola.

Papy Djilobodji was then guilty of heading another Veretout set-piece wide after 58 minutes, and their hopes of equalising took an almighty knock five minutes later when Aristeguieta was shown a straight red - just three minutes after coming off the bench - for a nasty challenge on Sebastien Squillaci.

The fight instantly went out of Nantes and Bastia capitalised with a second goal after 74 minutes. Ryad Boudebouz was the provider for Ayite to find the net from 20 yards.