Bakayoko late goal lifts Monaco over Nice; Lyon thrash 10-man Angers
Second-placed Monaco ground out a tough 1-0 win over Nice to move six points clear of their opponents in second place in Ligue 1.
Leonardo Jardim's side lost Fabio Coentrao to injury and Nabil Dirar to a foolish red card - the midfielder collecting two bookings in a matter of seconds for arguing with referee Tony Chapron - but Tiemoue Bakayoko's late goal earned them the three points.
Vincent Koziello hit the crossbar for Nice while Monaco's Vagner Love missed two clear chances but with less than 10 minutes to play, Joao Moutinho's free-kick found the unmarked Bakayoko who headed home.
Angers 0, Olympique Lyonnais
Lyon improved their chances of qualifying for Europe with a 3-0 win at ten-man Angers.
Goals from Christophe Jallet, Rachid Ghezzal and Corentin Tolisso helped see off a resolute Angers side who had to play almost 75 minutes with 10 men after Thomas Mangani was dismissed.
The writing was on the wall early on for Angers as they found themselves a goal behind and a man down inside the opening 16 minutes.
Firstly, Ismael Traore's error gifted possession to Christophe Jallet and the former PSG right-back curled a superb effort beyond Alexandre Letellier from outside the area. Then, just a few minutes later, Mangani was given a straight red card following a nasty-looking challenge on Lyon midfielder Tolisso. And Lyon doubled their advantage just a few minutes after the restart, in similar fashion to the opener.
Jallet was involved once again and his pass found Ghezzal, who jinked his way into the right side of the area before firing a sublime left-footed effort beyond the helpess Letellier.
Chances were few and far between for the hosts and when they did manage to muster an effort at goal, Cheikh N'Doye's header from Jeremy Morel's delivery ended up the wrong side of the post.
Then, with less than 10 minutes to play, Lyon added a third after some good work on the left from Mathieu Valbuena resulted in Tolisso converting from the edge of the area.
Bastia 2, Troyes 0
Floyd Ayite netted a brace as Bastia secured their fourth home win in five with a 2-0 defeat of nine man Troyes in Ligue 1.
Bastia needed no more than 10 minutes to open the scoring against the league's bottom club when some great work from Gael Danic allowed Floyd Ayite to run in on goal and finish.
The hosts' chances of securing a second win in three were dented when goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca was sent off for bringing down Chris Mavinga outside his area.
Parity was restored though when Troyes' Brayan Perea was sent off and Bastia made sure of the points, thanks to Ayite's 81st minute penalty - after Fabien Camus was also dismissed for giving away the spot-kick.
Caen 0, Reims 2
Reims secured their first back-to-back wins since the opening two games of the season with a 2-0 defeat of Caen.
The visitors started well and thoroughly deserved their lead when Thievy Bifouma headed Nicolas De Preville's pinpoint delivery beyond Remy Vercoutre.
And Reims made sure of giving their survival chances a boost when on 63 minutes Prince Oniangue pounced after seeing his initial goal-bound effort well saved by Vercoutre.
Caen almost gave themselves a lifeline late on when Andy Delort went through on goal but Johnny Placide came out on top to deny the former Wigan striker.
Lorient 1, Montpellier 1
Ten-man Lorient came from behind to secure a point in a 1-1 draw with Montpellier, a result that left the visitors in the bottom three.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men after 37 minutes when Francois Bellugou was sent of for kicking out at Ryad Boudebouz before Montpellier grabbed the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Delvin N'Dinga made space out wide and his delivery was met by Kevin Berigaud to steer the ball through Benjamin Lecomte's legs for the opener.
Lorient levelled though just after the restart when some great work by Walid Mesloub teed up Jimmy Cabot to level and that was the way it remained.
Toulouse 0, Nantes 0
Toulouse were left rooted in Ligue 1's bottom three after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Nantes at the Stade Municipal.
La Tefece should probably have taken the lead early on in the clash when Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro burst through on goal but, when faced with just Remy Riou, the Ivory Coast striker dragged an effort wide of the goal.
The hosts continued to create the better chances but Riou was in inspired form, tipping away Oscar Trejo's free-kick while Akpa-Akpro was guilty of being wasteful again early in the second half.
Adryan had the best of the visitors' opportunities but he was superbly denied on two occasions in the second half by young Toulouse stopper Alban Lafont and both sides settled for a point.
