Bastia 0 : 0 Lyonnais - Lyon slip up against Bastia

Lyon missed out on the opportunity to leapfrog Marseille in to second place in Ligue 1 as they were held to a goalless draw by managerless Bastia.

Les Gones arrived in Corsica on the back of five successive league wins but a rugged Bastia side, combined with a poor playing surface, proved too much for the visitors to make the breakthrough.

Following on from their 2-0 win at Montpellier last week, the hosts' second clean sheet in as many matches helped secure a valuable point which moved them further clear of the bottom three.

The visitors were calling for a penalty inside the first 10 minutes when Henri Bedimo took a tumble under a Drissa Diakite challenge, but referee Benoit Bastien pointed for a goal-kick despite Lyon remonstrations.

Bastia's first opportunity for an opener came midway through the first half with Ryad Boudebouz's delivery from a free-kick but Guillaume Gillet's goalbound header was turned away by Milan Bisevac as both sides battled for a foothold in the match.

Lyon's class began to show and Corentin Tolisso was inches away from meeting Bedimo's teasing cross before Clinton Njie was denied a clear shooting opportunity by a last-ditch Sebastian Squillaci tackle.

With half-time fast approaching Hervin Ongenda fired wildly wide from an ambitious 35-yard free-kick before Arnold Mvuemba saw a close-range potshot end up wide of the mark as the scores remained goalless at the break.

Not helped by the poor playing surface, the second-half began as the first ended with Lyon looking the more likely to score as Samuel Umtiti was a whisker away with a bending free-kick inside five minutes after the restart.

The hosts went closest to the game's opener with a quarter of the match left to play as Ryad Boudebouz picked out Floyd Ayite, but his effort from a tight angle was beaten away by the so far untested Anthony Lopes.

Bastia continued to threaten and Yannick Cahuzac tested Lopes again but the Portugal Under-21 keeper got down well to gather before his opposite number, Alphonse Areola, did well to deny Yattara at the other end following Alexandre Lacazette's through ball.

The hosts had a half-hearted penalty shout turned down with a few minutes remaining after substitute Maboulou went down under an Untiti challenge but nothing was given and both sides settled for a point.