Marseille 2-0 Toulouse: two goals in the first 25 minutes are enough despite less of the ball
Amine Harit scored inside the first minute and Amine Gouiri doubled it at 25' as Marseille beat Toulouse 2-0 at the Vélodrome — their fourth straight league win, even with less possession and fewer shots on target than their opponents.
Marseille needed less than a minute to take the lead. Amine Gouiri set up Amine Harit for the opener before the Vélodrome crowd had properly settled, and Gouiri turned scorer himself at 25', finishing off an Igor Paixão pass to make it 2-0. That was effectively the match: Toulouse had the better of what came after, but Marseille's two early strikes were enough to hold on for a 2-0 win.
More of the ball, fewer goals
The number that stands out from this one is the shots on target column. Toulouse finished with 7 to Marseille's 3, and 56.4% of the possession to Marseille's 43.6% — by most measures the away side had the better of the game played out in front of them. None of it mattered once Marseille had the two-goal cushion. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and CJ Egan-Riley were both booked holding that lead, and Santiago Hidalgo picked up a late yellow for Toulouse as the game petered out.
- 1' — Amine Harit (Marseille), assist Amine Gouiri
- 25' — Amine Gouiri (Marseille), assist Igor Paixão
| Stat | Marseille | Toulouse |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 43.6% | 56.4% |
| Shots on target | 3 | 7 |
| Passes completed | 400/478 (83.7%) | 516/610 (84.6%) |
| Corners | 4 | 3 |
| Fouls conceded | 14 | 14 |
| Offsides | 1 | 4 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 1 |
Marseille's fourth win in a row
This continues a turnaround that started after a run of four straight league losses — to Monaco, Paris FC, Rennes and PSG — through late August and September. Since then, Marseille have beaten Troyes 2-0, Angers 5-2 and Le Havre 4-3, and now Toulouse: four straight wins, 12 goals scored in that run.
An unbeaten run ends for Toulouse
Toulouse arrived unbeaten in five — two wins and three draws, including a point taken off Monaco. This defeat snaps that run, and it comes despite Toulouse out-passing and out-shooting their hosts, the kind of afternoon that will sting more for the performance than the result alone usually would.
What's next
Marseille came into the round 9th on 12 points from eight games; the win takes them to 15 points from nine, provisionally up to 6th. Toulouse stay on 10 points, now from nine games, provisionally 11th, their unbeaten run converted into a reminder that chances have to go in.
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