Lens showed great intent in the first period as they searched for the all-important breakthrough against Marseille. Florian Sotoca’s rising shot forced Geronimo Rulli into a diving stop before Facundo Medina headed agonisingly wide from Przemyslaw Frankowski’s inviting delivery.
After being second best for most of the first half, Marseille finally showcased their own threat in the 40th minute when Neal Maupay fired just wide of Brice Samba’s left-hand post.
Just seconds later, Rulli made a couple of stops in quick succession to deny David Pereira da Costa and M'Bala Nzola, ensuring Marseille went into the break on level terms.
Unfortunately for Lens, they were ultimately made to rue their failure to capitalise on their first-half dominance as Marseille made an electric start to the second period.
First, Valentin Rongier showed great composure in front of goal to slot past Samba after being teed up by Maupay.
The former Everton man provided another assist just before the hour, feeding the ball to Luis Henrique, who steadied himself before picking his spot to round off a clinical counter-attack.
Just as Marseille appeared to be cruising to victory, Lens received a boost when Angelo Fulgini pulled a goal back in the 80th minute.
The substitute tucked home his first goal of the season following a scramble in the box to set up an exciting finish.
With Marseille on the ropes, Lens thought they had completed the comeback when Remy Labeau Lascary fired in at the near post before a VAR review chalked off the goal for a foul at the opposite end of the pitch.
Marseille scored from the subsequent free-kick to rub salt into the wounds, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg driving the ball into the bottom corner to wrap up all three points.
The victory keeps Roberto De Zerbi’s side in third position, while Will Still’s charges are now six points adrift in eighth spot in Ligue 1.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Neal Maupay (Marseille)