Lille boss Frederic Antonetti has claimed that his team needed to show courage to see off the challenge of Caen.
Les Dogues picked up their first win under their new coach thanks to a brace from Yassine Benzia, but Antonetti has suggested that the visitors were forced to weather plenty of late pressure in order to secure three points.
He is quoted by Ligue 1's official website as saying: "We had a difficult first 25 minutes in which Caen didn't let us have the ball, but we resisted by being solid. Then we got the goal and controlled the game for long spells. We could have got a second then but Caen threw everything at us in the second half.
"Until the penalty we were in control and never in danger. Not everything is perfect technically or tactically but we managed to win the match thanks to our courage. The attitude is what pleases me about this team.
"There is a platform on which to improve technically and tactically and that is a good thing. And on top of that the victory gives us energy and confidence. The six points we have just taken will do us a lot of good but we need to remain vigilant as we still have a lot of progress to make."
Antonetti took over after former Ivory Coast manager Herve Renard was sacked following a poor run of results for OSC.