Derby joy for Bastia
Toifilou Maoulida scored the only goal as Bastia beat Ajaccio 1-0 in a fiery Corsican derby.
Last Updated: 02/03/13 10:26pm
Toifilou Maoulida scored the only goal as Bastia beat Ajaccio 1-0 in a fiery Corsican derby but it was the dismissals of five players, four in the final minute, which will create the headlines.
Maoulida struck early in the second half with Ajaccio's hopes of a comeback not helped by a second yellow card for Mathieu Chalme 10 minutes from time.
However, the match was overshadowed by events in the dying moments when Dennis Oliech's dismissal for the visitors sparked a brawl which resulted in subsequent red cards for team-mate Benjamin Andre and Bastia duo Florian Thauvin and Jerome Rothen.
The win saw Bastia end a run of six Ligue 1 matches without a win and they move six points clear of the drop zone, as well as a point and a place above Ajaccio.
The home side threatened first and Rothen tried his luck with a left-footed strike from 25 yards which was cleared by the visiting defence.
Rothen then supplied a ball into the box for Anthony Modeste, but his header was blocked by goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
Ajaccio caught their first sight of goal after 25 minutes through Chakir Belghazouani, whose left-footed drive from distance was punched away by Mickael Landreau.
And they had an even better chance to score as half-time approached with Landreau using all of his agility to tip away a free-kick from Johan Cavalli.
Instead it was Bastia who made the breakthrough after the restart, when Gilles Cioni provided the perfect cross for an unmarked Maoulida to head home off the post.
Ajaccio rose to the challenge and Landreau made another good save to keep out a curling effort from Paul Lasne, before also blocking Oliech's shot on the turn.
However, just when an equaliser looked likely, Chalme was given his marching orders with a second yellow for a trip on Modeste.
If that spoiled what had been an entertaining match, what followed in stoppage time was nothing short of embarrassing for both clubs.
It began with the sending-off of Oliech, who was shown a straight red card for an ugly challenge on goalkeeper Landreau.
Bastia's players were furious and the arguments quickly spilled into a mass brawl between both sets of players.
When referee Clement Turpin and his assistants had finally regained control of proceedings, the red card was brandished again with Andre, Thauvin and Rothen all given their marching orders in what was the final action of the match.