Balotelli played the full 90 minutes at the Stade Armand-Cesari, then took to Instagram to express his anger at alleged abuse he received from the home fans during the match.

The former AC Milan, Liverpool and Manchester City striker claims "monkey" noises were directed towards him, and brandished the situation "horrible".

Along with a solid black image, he posted: "Yesterday the result against Bastia was right. We will work more and try to get our objective.. the referee was good too but I have a question for French people..

"Is it normal that Bastia supporters make monkey noises and 'uh uh' for the whole game and no one of the 'commissions discipline' says anything? So is racism LEGAL in France? Or only in Bastia?

"Football is an amazing sport .. those people like Bastia supporters make it horrible!"

Lucien Favre's side returned to the top of the table thanks to Arnaud Souquet's equaliser, the defender cancelling out Prince Oniangue's opener for Bastia who were reduced to 10 men just after the hour.

Nice's stay at the top could be short-lived, however, should Monaco beat Lorient on Monday (AEDT).