Only table-toppers and defending champions PSG could boast a longer winning run in Ligue 1 than Marseille coming into the game, and Bruno Genesio’s side showed their newfound confidence with the opening goal inside two minutes.
The hosts pounced on a loose ball in midfield before the two Amines - Gouiri and Harit - combined, with the latter finishing first-time from 25 yards with an early outside-of-the-boot strike into the bottom corner.
Toulouse - on a five-game unbeaten run themselves - reacted well as Jacen Russell-Rowe curled straight at Jeffrey de Lange before the Dutchman saved brilliantly from Thomas Jorgensen’s close-range effort shortly after.
Having survived that scare on Halloween weekend, Marseille doubled their lead after 25 minutes, punishing Toulouse for another defensive error. Igor Paixao headed Rasmus Nicolaisen’s poor clearance into Gouiri's path, who fired clinically into the far corner as he turned from provider to goalscorer.
The home side should’ve been even further clear moments later, but the in-form Himad Abdelli inexplicably chipped his effort over the crossbar with only Guillaume Restes to beat.
Russell-Rowe looked to lead the Toulouse fightback and twice came close to cutting the deficit before half-time, but CJ Egan-Riley cleared a dinked effort before De Lange saved his instinctive shot.
De Lange and Russell-Rowe resumed their personal battle within three minutes of the second half, and the Marseille goalkeeper came out on top once again as he saved the Canadian’s volley from eight yards.
The end-to-end contest showed no signs of slowing down as Casper Tengstedt fired over from inside the six-yard box and Jorgensen volleyed straight at De Lange either side of Paixao, crashing a header onto the base of the post.
Toulouse thought they’d finally found a way past the Marseille goalkeeper with just over 20 minutes to go when Tengstedt tapped it in, but a VAR review showed the Dane was offside after Santiago Hidalgo headed it back across goal. Hidalgo was then denied by the offside flag as the Violets’ constant pressure went unrewarded.
Marseille must now carry their domestic form into their European campaign as they travel to Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League, seeking their first points of the competition this term. Defeat leaves Toulouse in a heavily congested bottom half of the table, two points above the relegation play-off place.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jeffrey de Lange (Marseille)
