Dominant Marseille see off Toulouse

Marseille have extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to seven points by defeating Toulouse 2-0 in this afternoon's clash at the Stade Velodrome.

The hosts had the better of things in the opening stages, with Dimitri Payet coming close to opening the scoring with an effort in the sixth minute.

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It did not take long for Marcelo Bielsa's pacesetters to open the scoring as Payet's free kick in the 20th minute fell nicely to Nicolas N'Koulou, who headed home past Zacharie Boucher.

Things got even better for Marseille when, with 10 minutes left in the first half, Andre-Pierre Gignac latched onto a cross which evaded Steve Yago and fired into the net to double his side's lead.

The home team continued to turn the screw in the second period, with Gignac and Payet causing more trouble for the visitors and the Toulouse defence had to be alert to block a Benjamin Mendy strike late on.

Marseille have now put some distance between themselves and champions Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the table, while Toulouse remain 10th.