Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares scored what turned out to be the winning goal for Marseille against Toulouse on Sunday night.

Marseille's Portuguese defender Nuno Tavares (C) celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the French L1 football match between Toulouse FC and Olympique Marseille (OM) at The TFC Stadium in Toulouse, southwestern France, on February 19, 2023. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
Marseille’s Portuguese defender Nuno Tavares (C) celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the French L1 football match between Toulouse FC and Olympique Marseille (OM) at The TFC Stadium in Toulouse, southwestern France, on February 19, 2023. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Returning to the Marseille starting lineup on Sunday following a brief injury absence, Nuno Tavares made his start away to Toulouse count with a goal.

With Marseille 2-1 up in the 78th minute, Tavares received the ball out on the left-hand side.

His attempt to go past the defender initially seemed to fail, with the opponent getting a block in. But the ball fell back to Tavares, and on the second attempt, he raced around the outside of his man before finishing at the near post.

Toulouse pulled a goal back in the 87th minute, but ultimately Tavares’ goal was the difference between the two sides. Marseille remain second in Ligue 1, five points off league leaders PSG.

You can watch the full highlights of the game here.

Marseille's Portuguese defender Nuno Tavares celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Olympique de Marseille and Toulouse FC at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille on December 29, 2022. (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)
Marseille’s Portuguese defender Nuno Tavares celebrates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Olympique de Marseille and Toulouse FC at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille on December 29, 2022. (Photo by NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Tavares is now up to six league goals for the campaign, a career-best tally for the 23-year-old.

Whilst his loan spell hasn’t always been positive so far, with a couple of suspensions and a minor injury, the Portugal u21 international certainly isn’t tanking his value in France.

A consistent run of games from now until the summer would help to build Tavares’ reputation further.

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