Georginio Wijnaldum's injury-time equaliser allowed Paris Saint-Germain to snatch a 1-1 draw away to Lens in Ligue 1 on Saturday in a match which confirmed Lionel Messi's difficulties adapting to the physical nature of French football.
Messi was floored by a strong tackle and some PSG players stopped playing in the build-up to Seko Fofana's goal which gave Lens a 62nd-minute lead in northern France.
It looked as if that would be enough for Lens to claim a victory which would have been just reward for an outstanding performance that delighted the crowd of close to 37,000.
However, PSG equalised in the second minute of injury time as Kylian Mbappe crossed for fellow substitute Wijnaldum to head home.
PSG extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 13 points from Marseille, beaten 2-1 at home by Brest earlier on Saturday.
"Lens is a very good team and very physical. They made us suffer. Overall I think we knew how to suffer in different periods of the game and I think the draw is a fair result," Pochettino told broadcaster Canal Plus.
"It wasn't our best night but the effort was there and when the effort is there you have to congratulate the players, but we know very well we need to do better."
It was a PSG side missing Neymar, who is out with an ankle injury and not expected to return before mid-January, while their nine-goal top scorer Mbappe was rested at kick-off before coming on to help save the day.
Messi, won his seventh Ballon d'Or at the start of the week, still has just one goal from nine Ligue 1 appearances and he struggled to make his presence felt against an impressive Lens side who lie fifth in the table.
Messi wins seventh Ballon d'Or
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2021 BALLON D'OR FULL RESULTS: 1) Lionel Messi (Barcelona/PSG/Argentina) AFP -
2) Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland) EPA -
3) Jorginho (Chelsea/Italy) AP -
4) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/France) AFP -
5) N'Golo Kante (Chelsea/France) Getty Images -
6) Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Manchester United/Portugal) Getty Images -
7) Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt) AFP -
8) Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City/Belgium) PA -
9) Kylian Mbappe (PSG/France) AFP -
10) Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan/PSG/Italy) Getty Images -
11) Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund/Norway) Getty Images -
12) Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan/Chelsea/Belgium) AFP -
13) Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus/Italy) AFP -
14) Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy) AP -
15) Raheem Sterling (Manchester City/England) Getty Images -
16) Neymar (PSG/Brazil) Reuters -
17) Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid/Uruguay) AFP -
18) Simon Kjaer (AC Milan/Denmark) AP -
19) Mason Mount (Chelsea/England) Reuters -
20) Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City/Algeria) Getty Images -
=21) Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/Portugal) Getty Images -
=21) Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan/Argentina) AFP -
23) Harry Kane (Tottenham/England) AP -
24) Pedri (Barcelona/Spain) Reuters -
25) Phil Foden (Manchester City/England) AFP -
=26) Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan/Italy) Reuters -
=26) Ruben Dias (Manchester City/Portugal) Reuters -
=26) Gerard Moreno (Villarreal/Spain) Getty Images -
=29) Luka Modric (Real Madrid/Croatia) AP -
=29) Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea/Spain) AP
