Montpellier HSC coach Rene Girard has said that his team have showed "special" ability to win difficult matches this season.

La Pallaide's 1-0 victory over Valenciennes saw them stretch their lead over Paris Saint-Germain to five points.

However, Les Parisiens' 6-1 routing of Sochaux means that Girard's men currently lead by two points with only five games remaining.

"Winning matches is more easily said than done; a football match is never simple," said the 58-year-old. "Valenciennes were very solid defensively and we struggled to find the solution, but despite this, in the end we got the job done.

"It's always satisfying to win. We're managing to win matches even when it's very difficult, and that proves that we have something special and that we're an effective side, even though we won only by the narrowest of margins."

Montpellier travel to Toulouse on Friday.