Struggling Lens shrugged off reports of dressing-room bust-ups and picked up a vital win as two first-half goals were enough to see off Montpellier.

The relegation battlers took a sixth minute lead through Adil Hermach and Kanga Akale's strike five minutes before the break then made sure of the points.

Lens came into the match on the back of a bad week in which it was confirmed that defender Yohan Demont, already stripped of the club captaincy after clashing with Nenad Kovacevic, is facing five weeks on the sidelines after reportedly breaking his hand by punching a wall following an argument with another team-mate, striker Issam Jemaa.

But there was little sign of unrest as they took control of the game from the start.

Hermach stunned Montpellier goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren as he fired a free-kick straight into the top corner from the edge of the area.

Hermach might have had a second in the 20th minute when Sebastian Roudet's shot was blocked and the ball fell to Hermach close to goal, but he fired just wide.

Jourdren then had to keep out a Roudet shot after good work from Eric Chelle.

And Lens got the reward for their dominance when Toifilou Maoulida's cross found Akale who headed powerfully into the net.

Abdoulrazak Boukari might have added a third just after the hour mark when he raced down the middle before forcing Jourdren to make a save at full stretch.

Montpellier had barely been seen as an attacking force, and their two late chances amounted to little.

First, Hasan Kabze fired straight at Vedran Runje from close range, before Souleymane Camara blazed over in the final moments.