At the end of a disjointed night on a damaged Armand-Cesari pitch, Bastia watched a first home win of the season slip away. Cléo Mélières put the Corsicans ahead against Orléans, but Robin Legendre’s late penalty earned the visitors a 1-1 draw in Thursday’s early Ligue 3 fixture.
The result, in the ninth round of the campaign, leaves Sporting still searching for a victory in front of their own supporters. Bastia’s home record now stands at three defeats and one draw, with the point doing little to lift them from 10th place. Orléans move up to 14th.
A limited contest on a difficult surface
The poor condition of the playing surface made clean football hard to find and chances were scarce throughout a low-quality technical contest.
Hamidou Makalou failed to make proper contact with an effort for Bastia in the 23rd minute. Orléans then had one of their few threatening moments when Belkacem Dali-Amar sent a 36th-minute attempt wide.
After the interval, Clément Rodrigues tested Orléans goalkeeper Fei-Hong Faham in the 51st minute, but the visiting keeper kept the match scoreless.
Late penalty denies Bastia
Bastia eventually broke through in the 66th minute, Mélières scoring what appeared likely to be the decisive goal. The hosts protected their advantage deep into the final stages before a controversial incident changed the evening.
Théo De Percin was judged to have fouled Mamadou Diako while coming for a high ball, with the goalkeeper’s aerial challenge appearing uncertain. Legendre converted the resulting penalty in the 87th minute to level the score.
The tension rose further in stoppage time as Bastia finished with 10 men. Noah Zilliox was sent off in the ninth minute of added time.
The remaining eight Ligue 3 matches from the ninth round are scheduled for Saturday.
