Mauricio Pochettino had no complaints after his Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 1-1 draw by RC Lens at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Saturday.
PSG were minutes away from ceding all three points to les Sang et Or, Gini Wijnaldum only cancelling out Seko Fofana's opener deep into injury time, and Pochettino conceded that Franck Haise's side had been one of the league leaders' most difficult opponents yet.
"We have to give credit to Lens," he said after the game. "They're a physical, aggressive team with a lot of energy, which put us in difficulty. But we must also recognise the efforts we made. The team fought hard, suffered and was able to come back to score. But, in the end, I think the result is fair."
The draw was PSG's second in a row following their goalless outing against OGC Nice on Wednesday, but they remain top of Ligue 1 Uber Eats with 42 points - 13 clear of nearest challengers Olympique de Marseille.
The capital club are also already through to the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League ahead of their meeting with Club Brugge on Tuesday, and Pochettino has hinted that Kylian Mbappé - who set up Wijnaldum's equaliser - could be rested having only played the final 20 minutes on Saturday.
"Kylian's played a lot of consecutive matches," he explained of his seven-goal top scorer, who has also struck twice on the continent this term. "He felt a little tired, and we thought it appropriate to give him a little rest."
Pochettino's opposite number Franck Haise was delighted with the result, despite Lens being denied a first win over PSG since September 2020 at the last.
"Just for my players and my staff, I want it to be a feeling of pride," he said. "There's disappointment inside, but I have to show great pride in what they've done. Everyone had to be aligned to achieve a result against PSG, and our goalkeeper to make two or three high-class saves. We had a great match on every level."