Back in January, the Nice striker Mario Balotelli took to Twitter to ask if racism is legal in France – “or only in Bastia”. “Football is an amazing sport,” he wrote. “But people like Bastia supporters make it horrible.” Balotelli had been subjected to racial abuse from the Bastia ultras and, sadly, shameful behaviour is not uncommon from the East Stand at Bastia’s Stade Armand Cesari, the home of the club’s vociferous ultras, Bastia 1905. But the events we saw at the ground on Sunday were a new low.

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As Lyon players warmed up in front of the East Stand, a Bastia fan vaulted the barriers to confront Memphis Depay, before being hauled away by a steward. From there the situation escalated. More than 20 Bastia supporters from behind the goal joined the fray, with punches and kicks being thrown at players. Lyon reserve goalkeeper Mathieu Gorgelin was the focus of much of the fans’ ire before stewards and other players were engulfed as the squad were forced to swiftly retreat back down the tunnel.

Former Lyon player Jérémy Berthod described what he had seen to the club’s official TV channel: “SC Bastia fans kicked balls into Gorgelin’s goal. He and Memphis tried to move them out of the way before being attacked by many Bastia fans. The players then huddled together. They and the staff are very shocked. The moment it happened, none of them wanted to come out of the dressing room and play this match.”

Eventually, however, they did return to play the match. With the Lyon team holed up in their dressing room, the Bastia XI lined up in the tunnel alone, returned to their own dressing room and then warmed up without Lyon’s players. All the while Jean-Michel Aulas, Lyon’s outspoken president, conferred with officials and his staff in the tunnel. Aulas was seemingly able to convince his players and his manager to play the game, as they were understandably reluctant to do so.

L’Équipe reported that Lyon coach Bruno Génésio had told his president: “We must stop! We should stop! They hit the players! We do not go to war!” It should be noted that the majority of the crowd applauded the Lyon players as they returned for their second warm-up as kick-off arrived nearly an hour after it was scheduled; however, an hour later the game was finally abandoned.

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As Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes left the field after a turgid 45 minutes, he was angrily approached by a Bastia official who allegedly asked him not to provoke the East Stand behind his goal. Whatever was said, Lopes did not take kindly to it, shoving the official and sparking another brawl. Stewards, players and staff from both clubs were joined by more invading fans who again threw kicks and punches at players as the irate Lopes was dragged away. One particularly alarming scene shows a steward repeatedly kicking out at Lyon player Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Bastia officials pushed for the game to finish in a bid to avoid inciting further violence, but those calls were unheeded. After the local authorities and football officials decided to abandon the fixture, the Lyon squad were forced to once again retreat to their dressing room having already boarded their team bus, their safety unable to be guaranteed. Objects were thrown as they left an hour later with Bastia “fans” countered by riot police and the use of tear gas.

Damningly for Bastia, this was the first game in which the East Stand had been reopened after it had been closed for three matches following the punishment handed down by the LFP as a result of the abuse directed at Balotelli. Earlier in the season, Paris Saint-Germain winger Lucas Moura had been struck by a stick thrown by a Bastia fan from the same stand as he prepared to take a corner.

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With the club rooted to the foot of the table and severe punishments on the horizon, the Bastia fans may have sealed their team’s fate in their survival fight. The French footballing authority’s notoriously strict reputation is well earned; Metz were handed a (later rescinded) two-point deduction and stadium closures after a supporter threw a firecracker towards Lyon keeper Lopes in December. Benjamin Jeannot of Lorient was given a 10-game ban for supposedly barging a referee as he chased a loose ball in September. Bastia released a statement condemning the events but the club can expect forceful sanctions here; the LFP already referring to the Bastia 1905’s actions as “unspeakable behaviour”.

This week has been a tumultuous one for Lyon. A 4-1 home thrashing against Lorient last Saturday preceded a 2-1 win over Besiktas in their Europa League quarter-final first leg, a match that was also marred by crowd trouble. The game on Thursday night was delayed by 45 minutes as missiles rained down from the upper tiers of the Parc OL, forcing Lyon fans on to the pitch to escape the bombardment. Aulas kept the home supporters and the situation under control. Venturing down to one of the stands, he addressed the fans and explained that he was as scared as they were but that they should remain in their seats and that he would watch the game with them. The short video of his address is a stirring one.

Play Video 0:33 Lyon v Besiktas Europa League tie marred by violence – video report

It is abundantly clear that Aulas harbours a deep love for his club; he was on the verge of tears on Sunday after the first attack on his players. That said, with his players having been attacked and security seemingly minimal around the troublesome areas of the Stade Armand Cesari, was it really the right choice to start the match? In hindsight the answer has to be no. With tempers deteriorating, players intimidated and security sketchy at best, the sensible decision would have been to not press ahead with the match with further violence a strong possibility.

On Sunday night the president said: “After consulting with the chief of police that there would be no other incident, the decision was taken to start the game. There was a lot of reluctance on the part of the players and Bruno Génésio. I tried to convince them.” Then, at half-time Aulas explained that “the security official again came to explain that it was possible to resume. But this time no one listened to him. It was the referee, Amaury Delerue, who made the decision.” Either way, the Lyon chairman may regret calling for the fixture to be resumed.

These lamentable scenes will rightfully be their own story; the Bastia 1905 group has had a number of chances to redeem themselves for such reprehensible behaviour, squandering them all, and the French authorities will hopefully be exacting with their punishment. Paris Saint-Germain fans were guilty of causing considerable damage to the Parc OL during their Coupe de Ligue final win over Monaco last month, while earlier on Sunday afternoon the Atlantic derby between Nantes and Bordeaux was stopped for nearly three minutes as flares were removed from a goalmouth. One of which, Bordeaux keeper Cédric Carrasso explained, came close to hitting him.

At the same time, this comes paired with a growing feeling of anti-establishment in a number of areas. Marseille fans went to the trouble of displaying a large tifo before the Sunday night game with St Étienne that simply read “Fuck LFP”. Pair these incidents with events at Bastia and Metz this season, and the unsavoury feeling only escalates. Although the situation is far from dire, it is something the LFP will need to monitor closely and react to accordingly. L’Équipe called the events in Corsica a “catastrophe”, but with unrest becoming more common in Ligue 1, let us hope this is the last time we see a story like this dominating French football.

Ligue 1 talking points

• Things looked grim for Bordeaux against Nantes in the early going at the Stade Beaujoire on Sunday afternoon. The clubs enjoy a rivalry that has its fair share of animosity. That animosity, and the always raucous atmosphere, which included a few flares being thrown on to the pitch, had been enough to give Nantes the early advantage, dominating the ball from the off. Slowly but surely, though, the visitors began to fashion chances, with Maxime Dupé forced into a stellar save from Gaëtan Laborde just before the interval. Nantes may have played into Bordeaux’s hands to some extent by removing midfielder Valentin Rongier, a more dynamic presence than Abdoulaye Touré, at half-time. However, when Younousse Sankharé broke the deadlock midway through the second half, it was a well-worked goal that had been coming. What was more impressive about the goal, though, is that it came through the enterprise of the former Lille man. Sankharé shouldered much of the attacking burden from central midfield on an afternoon when Valentín Vada, normally the team’s creative catalyst, was off the boil. Bordeaux rely on a very young quartet of players (Laborde, Vada, Malcom and François Kamano) for much, if not all of their thrust in attack, and given their lack of experience, (Laborde is the oldest of the four at 22) they are bound to suffer the odd poor performance. Knowing that veterans like Sankharé still retain the capacity to step into a void, should there be one, is a huge boost for the team’s confidence. Earlier in the season, manager Jocelyn Gourvennec’s lineups favoured experience over youth. Yet, in striking more of a balance, he has allowed his gifted attackers a chance to develop without fear of failure, and the results, since making that change (27 points from 14 matches, a return exceeded only by the top three), speak for themselves.

• Ismaïla Sarr’s effort against Caen will garner all of the headlines in terms of superb goals this weekend, and deservedly so. The young winger has been one of Metz’s best players this season, and despite the hosts only drawing against their Norman opponents, the result is enough to see them, despite a desperate goal difference, five points clear of the play-off spot with five matches remaining. Indeed, Metz and Caen were the only teams in the bottom eight to record a point this weekend, a remarkable turnaround from a week ago. As impressive as Sarr has been, though, Les Grenats’ best player on the evening was the man who created the goal, Iván Balliu. A product of Barcelona’s academy, the diminutive right-back left La Masia in 2013, spending two years with Portuguese side Arouca. Philippe Hinschberger’s Metz came calling in the summer of 2015, and Balliu spent last season splitting time with the veteran Jonathan Rivierez. After Metz’s promotion, the former Le Havre man was named the starter at the season’s outset, but an injury brought Balliu to the fore, and Rivierez has not played since a loss to Monaco, more than two months ago. Keen to break up play and start a counter-attack, but also decent with the ball at his feet, the little Spaniard has been arguably the team’s best player aside from January signing Cheick Diabaté and Renaud Cohade.

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• Bafétimbi Gomis’ strike against Saint-Étienne would have been goal of the week, but for Sarr’s blinder against Caen. Scooping out an under-hit pass, Gomis gathered the ball and finished impressively, firing across goal to double his side’s lead, which had seemed slightly fragile at the time. At 31, Gomis certainly qualifies as a veteran campaigner, but with 17 goals this season, he has set a new career-high, and his style is something that has been emulated with some degree of success across the league. Not especially quick or tall, Gomis instead combines his powerful frame with a sublime first touch, facilitating wide players who are nearly as capable of filling the net as he is. As adept at holding up play as he is shooting, Gomis increasingly looks the prototype of a new breed of striker, powerful yet not awkward, who plays neither as a hulking target man or as a speedy finisher. Alongside Gaëtan Laborde, Mickaël Le Bihan and Steve Mounié, Gomis stands as an example of a modern centre forward, one who can be either a focal point of a team’s attack, or a fulcrum for inverted wingers.

• Radamel Falcao has proved himself to be a born-again force this season for Monaco and he was at it again on Saturday, scoring to seal his side’s second nervy win in as many weeks with a thumping free-kick 10 minutes from time. The hero at the Stade Raymond Kopa last week in a 1-0 win over Angers, Falcao made his mark on this occasion against a desperate Dijon side, who had taken the lead through an error on the part of veteran keeper Danijel Subasic. He was also involved in his side’s equaliser, crashing a free-kick off the bar for Nabil Dirar to prod home. Normally, Thomas Lemar, no slouch himself in this department, is in charge of Monaco’s free-kicks, but in this instance, the Colombian overruled the little winger, insisting he take them. Perhaps this was to sow the seeds of surprise against Dijon, but more likely, Falcao, drawing on his experience as captain, was keen to lead by example, his burgeoning self-belief eager to pay back his team-mates for his recent two-month period without scoring.

Ligue 1 results

Angers 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain, Nice 3-1 Nancy, Rennes 2-0 Lille, Montpellier 2-0 Lorient, Metz 2-2 Caen, Guingamp 2-1 Toulouse, Monaco 2-1 Dijon, Bastia v Lyon (game called off), Nantes 0-1 Bordeaux, Marseille 4-0 St Étienne.

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