Habib Beye picked up the first win of his Marseille reign against Olympique Lyonnais last weekend, but the midweek cup loss prevented any momentum from building, leading many to question how Les Phocéens would start.
However, they proved their mental resilience in the opening period and required just under 20 minutes to break the deadlock.
A scorer in Wednesday’s cup tie, Mason Greenwood was at it again, as he swept Igor Paixao’s cutback high into the net for his second goal in four Ligue 1 outings.
Marseille continued to threaten, and after Paixao drew a relatively comfortable save from Guillaume Restes, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a fantastic opportunity to double his side’s advantage.
He pounced on Cristian Casseres Jr.’s loose backpass, but despite rounding Restes, he could not find the target from a narrow angle.
As half-time approached, Toulouse finally grew into the game themselves, and dangerous efforts from Aron Dønnum and Warren Kamanzi gave the away team something to think about at the interval.
Toulouse still had to increase their intensity after the restart, and they did just that. Within 60 seconds, Santiago Hidalgo fired narrowly over the crossbar, and Yann Gboho struck the woodwork itself before the hour mark.
Following that near miss, the affair was a cagey one, with both teams committing a number of minor fouls and a couple of tame scuffles breaking out.
As the game’s climax approached, Toulouse pushed forward and looked far more likely to score. Ultimately, though, their end product was lacking, and Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli was never really tested - a sentiment underlined by the fact that the hosts managed just one shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
Having seen out the victory, L’OM are now unbeaten in 24 Ligue 1 meetings with Toulouse, and will spend tonight provisionally third ahead of Lyon.
Toulouse, meanwhile, are without a win in six league fixtures, but with a 12-point buffer over the bottom three ahead of the final nine matchdays, they can afford to turn their attention to the looming cup semi-final versus RC Lens in April, as they look to make it two cup wins in four seasons.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Igor Paixao (Marseille)