Rodriguez leads Monaco over Bastia

Furiani, France (SportsNetwork.com) - James Rodriguez netted a brace at the Stade Armand-Cesari on Saturday, helping Monaco to a 2-0 defeat of Bastia.

Monaco needed three points to keep pace with first-place PSG following its 3-0 defeat of Valenciennes on Friday, and Rodriguez played the role of the hero as his two-goal performance kept Claudio Ranieri's side within five points of top spot in Ligue 1.

The two sides were level in Saturday's affair until the 44th minute when Rodriguez got the visitors off the mark.

The Colombia international added to Monaco's lead in the 75th minute, putting the win beyond any doubt and securing the victory.

Monaco improves to 53 points through 25 games while Bastia stays put on 36 points.

Toulouse overturned a one-goal deficit to storm back and collect three points from a 3-1 defeat of Lorient on Saturday.

Lorient was reduced to 10 men through Alain Traore's 24th-minute red card, but Wesley Lautoa still managed to give the club the lead five minutes before halftime. The second half, though, belonged to Toulouse as goals from Ben Yedder, Christopher Aurier and Martin Braithwaite helped the visitors get the victory.

Ola Toivonen bagged a brace on Saturday but it was not enough to give Rennes all three points as goals from Daniel Congre and Souleymane Camara helped Montpellier get a point from a 2-2 draw.

Also on Saturday, Nicolas de Roussel de Preville produced the lone goal in Reims' 1-0 defeat of Bordeaux, Stophira Sunzu scored six minutes from time in Sochaux's 1-0 victory over Guingamp and Nice played to a 0-0 draw with Nantes.