Nice goes top with dour draw at 10-man Bastia
Nice continued to stutter in the Ligue 1 title race as it played out a frustrating draw with 10-man Bastia at the Stade Armand-Cesari.
A point sees Lucian Favre's men return to the top of the table, but Monaco will quickly retake the league lead by beating Lorient on Monday (AEDT), while champion Paris Saint-Germain can close within a point with victory at Nantes.
It has been a frustrating start to 2017 for surprise package Nice, which drew 0-0 with bottom team Metz last weekend after Lorient knocked it out of the Coupe de France, and it has drawn three straight league games.
Nice's struggles continued in the 17th minute when Prince Oniangue put the home side ahead after Sadio Diallo saw his shot blocked.
But the visitor was level shortly after the half-hour when Wylan Cyprien set up Arnaud Souquet for the equaliser.
Mario Balotelli then threatened twice in the closing stages of the first half, first seeing an ambitious long-range strike kept out by goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca before firing a shot over the crossbar from just outside the area.
Nice was further boosted as Bastia was reduced to 10 men in the 64th minute when Yannick Cahuzac received two yellow cards within the space of eight minutes, but they were unable to take advantage of the numerical advantage.
