Ligue 1: Montpellier prove spot-on

Two quick-fire second-half penalties saw Montpellier come from behind to beat Bastia 3-1 in their Ligue 1 clash on Saturday night.

Lucas Barrios and Anthony Mounier both struck from the spot within two minutes to cancel out Giovanni Sio's opener - with Morgan Sanson adding a third for the hosts in injury-time.

The win keeps Montpellier in with an outside chance of finishing in a place that would lead to European football next season while Bastia remain five points clear of the relegation zone.

It could have been different for Ghislain Printant's side as the visitors started brightly - with Guillaume Gillet shooting wide from 25 yards after he had been freed by Ryan Boudebouz.

Sio opened the scoring 10 minutes before the break but he appeared to be offside as he fired in from close-range after Floyd Ayite had flicked on Francois Kamano's cross.

Montpellier had been quiet in the opening stages and Barrios could not latch onto Mounier's free-kick as they laboured in the hunt for an equaliser.

Boudebouz came close to adding a second for the away side six minutes after the interval but he could only fire over the crossbar after being picked out by Kamano.

Montpellier finally got themselves back into the contest courtesy of a penalty conceded by a foul on Bryan Dabo by Ayita.

Barrios stepped up to send Alphonse Areola the wrong way and things got worse for Bastia just two minutes later.

Gillet was adjudged to have handled inside the box and Montpellier were awarded a second penalty - this time Mounier took the responsibility and he made no mistake in turning the game on its head.

Areola had been helpless with the two penalties but was at fault for Sanson's goal in stoppage time.

The goalkeeper attempted to clear the ball but could only pick out Sanson, who closed in on Areola's goal before slotting into an empty net.