Lens head coach Pierre Sage was relieved to see his side put the pressure back on Paris Saint-Germain in the Ligue 1 title race after they beat Le Havre 1-0 on Friday.

Ruben Aguilar’s goal in first-half stoppage time was enough to separate the two sides at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, with Lens moving a point ahead of PSG, who face Strasbourg on Sunday.

Lens have 46 points after 20 games in Ligue 1 2025-26, the highest tally in their history at this stage of a season in the top-flight.

They also recorded their 15th league victory of the campaign (1D 4L), already equalling their total number of wins from last season (15W, 7D, 12L).

"We're putting pressure on PSG," said Sage.

"Luis Enrique said after winning in Auxerre that he was putting pressure on Lens, and we're putting pressure on PSG too.

"It's very easy to play on Fridays when you're winning, because you can watch the other matches calmly. And they play with that in mind."

Lens’ win over Le Havre was their ninth consecutive home victory in Ligue 1, having only had one longer such streak in the top-flight (10 between August 2022 and January 2023).

Full-back Matthieu Udol also provided his sixth assist in Ligue 1 this season, the second-highest tally behind Vitinha (seven). Only Federico Dimarco (seven with Inter) has registered more assists among defenders in the top five European leagues this season.

Despite their strong season so far, Sage insisted that their overall goal is not to compete with PSG for the title.

"I don't think we're in a long-term battle with PSG," Sage added.

"We're simply focused on building something very positive for ourselves, and we realise, from the way we played tonight, that there's still room for improvement."

"We're still focused on scoring the number of points we're aiming for so we can qualify for Europe. We're two wins away from that goal.

"Reclaiming first place tonight is a positive, but what matters is the points tally."