French Ligue 1: Bastia ease relegation fears

Gadji Tallo scored a brace as Bastia moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 victory over Montpellier at the Stade Armand Cesari on Saturday night.

Tallo struck midway through the first half and again on the stroke of half-time as the home side returned to winning ways with their third victory of the season to move into 15th in the Ligue 1 standings.

The defeat marks a fourth from Montpellier's last five matches in all competitions as Rolland Courbis' side dropped down two places to 12th.

The visitors had the first real chance of note early on as Morgan Sanson found Siaka Tiene inside the 18-yard box, but his curled effort was blocked by goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

Bastia hit back with a chance of their own minutes later as Ryad Boudebouz's free-kick just outside the area found the head of Floyd Ayite but Geoffrey Jourdren was on hand to keep the ball out.

Areola again held the away side out, punching clear Anthony Mounier's header after 13 minutes, but it was the hosts that took the lead 20 minutes in when Boudebouz's corner found Cahuzac on the edge of the box and his shot rebounded back to Tallo, who fired home from close range.

They almost doubled their lead 20 minutes later but Jourdren made a diving save to keep out Ayite's volley. However, on the brink of half-time their pressure paid off as Tallo collected Guillaume Gillet's long ball forward and beat Hilton in the air to head home his and his side's second.

The second half was even more one sided and Tallo almost claimed his hat-trick just over 10 minutes in but unfortunately for him his shot was deflected away by the back of team-mate Francois Kamano.

After 73 minutes Kamano picked out Boudebouz on the left of the penalty box, who sent in a powerful effort against the crossbar as the hosts searched for a third.

In the final 10 minutes Boudebouz collected Djibril Cisse's pass 30 yards out but his left-footed strike sailed slightly wide of the post.