The victory placed Lens one point ahead of the reigning French and European champions Paris Saint-Germain, who suffered an unexpected 1-0 defeat at Monaco on Saturday.
Marseille also had a chance to claim first place this weekend but were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Toulouse and remain in third position.
This marks the first time Lens have topped Ligue 1 since August 2004, though coach Pierre Sage remained cautious.
"We are very pleased with this achievement, but on a résumé, being first after 14 games doesn’t guarantee a job, I suppose," he commented.
"Our goal is to keep improving, to better manage our matches so that we don’t find ourselves struggling in the last 10 or 12 minutes," he added, criticizing his squad for faltering while leading 2-0.
Former Newcastle United disappointment Thauvin opened the scoring for Lens just before halftime with a powerful left-footed shot that left Angers's Congolese goalkeeper Melvin Zinga helpless.
Thauvin, 32, who spent much of his career at Marseille, added a second goal 17 minutes from the end with a deflected strike that deceived Zinga.
However, three minutes later, Harouna Djibirin gave the home side hope by converting a rebound after Lens goalkeeper Robin Risser made a superb save to deny Prosper Peter.
Lens owed VAR for preserving their win as the video assistant referee overturned a late penalty awarded to Angers.
It was Lens’ fourth consecutive league victory and their seventh win in the last eight matches.
This season marks a strong comeback for Thauvin, a 2018 World Cup winner with France, who spent six years away from international duty following a severe ankle injury in 2019.
Once overlooked, with stints at Tigres in Mexico and Udinese in Italy, his impressive start at Lens, which he joined this season, earned him a recall to the French national team in October.
He even scored on his first France appearance in six years after coming on for Kylian Mbappe against Azerbaijan.
Elsewhere, Moroccan Hamza Igamane scored a last-minute winner to lift Lille to fourth place with a 1-0 victory at Le Havre.
Strasbourg missed the opportunity to climb to fifth after a 2-1 home defeat to Brest, while struggling Lorient escaped the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over out-of-form Nice, who have now lost six consecutive matches across all competitions.
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