Bastia peg back Lyon

By Chris Burke

Ten-man SC Bastia fought back to earn a spirited 1-1 draw at home to Olympique Lyonnais and give hope to the teams chasing the Ligue 1 leaders, while in the League Cup RC Strasbourg overcame AS Saint-Etienne to book a place in April's final.

Essien header
The French champions seemed set for only their fifth-ever win at the Stade Armand-Cesari-Furiani when Ghanaian midfield player Michael Essien lobbed a header past goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau from Juninho Pernambucano's 18th-minute free-kick. And the home side got off to the worst of starts in the second half as Cédric Uras received his marching orders for a professional foul on Pierre-Alain Frau.

Chimbonda equaliser
Few would have thought François Ciccolini's men would trouble the leaders after that, but within three minutes they were level, Pascal Chimbonda redirecting Djibril Sidibé's shot past the helpless Grégory Coupet. Lyon were then reduced to long-range efforts and Juninho free-kicks as they tried to break the Corsican side's resistance.

Five in front
However, Penneteau was not to be beaten again, and he guaranteed a point that takes Bastia up to 18th. Lyon extend their lead to five points, but AS Monaco FC can reduce that to four if they win their game in hand.

Farnerud strike

Scoring record
The 20-year-old has now scored in every round of the competition and will get a chance to continue that record in the final as Les Verts proved incapable of carving out an equaliser. Lilian Compan fired just wide when through on Rémi Vercoutre's goal, but Jacky Duguépéroux's side held on and will contest the trophy with either SM Caen or AS Monaco FC, who meet in the second semi-final tomorrow.