Marseille began brightly with four shots in the first seven minutes, though the only one to trouble Robin Risser in the Lens goal was a Mason Greenwood header from a corner.
Risser dealt with that, but he had no chance in the 18th minute, when Timothy Weah found Greenwood in the middle before the Englishman expertly curled the ball into the bottom corner for his seventh goal of the season.
However, the visitors’ joy was short-lived, as two minutes later Odsonne Edouard went down in the penalty area. He was initially booked for diving, but following a VAR review, referee Stephanie Frappart instead awarded Lens a penalty, which Edouard converted with a panenka.
The hosts grew in belief as the half wore on – Matthieu Udol’s neat turn and hit dropped just wide, as did Florian Thauvin’s effort from range after he slalomed his way through the Marseille defence.
In added time, Mamadou Sangare’s piledriver was tipped over by Geronimo Rulli to ensure the sides went into half-time level.
But the break didn’t cool Lens’ pressure, and the home side deservedly went in front within eight minutes of the restart. Edouard caused all sorts of problems in the box at a corner, forcing Benjamin Pavard to turn the ball into his own net.
Les Phoceens responded well and almost drew level with their very next attack, but Risser was at full stretch to deny a fierce drive from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Then, just after the hour mark, Thauvin came within millimetres of a third for the hosts when his header was clawed away by Rulli just before it crossed the line.
The Argentinian goalkeeper had to be alert to deal with an Udol effort from miles out, before Samson Baidoo’s header from the resulting corner went over as Pierre Sage’s men edged nearer to a seventh H2H win in 11 meetings.
Late on, Greenwood slammed an effort into the side-netting as Lens' league-best record of only two goals conceded after half-time remained intact.
Ultimately, it was a third 2-1 win in a row for the home side after Rulli made another save in added time when Sangare was through on goal, while it’s a second loss by that scoreline this week for Marseille, whose three league defeats have all come on the road.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Odsonne Edouard (Lens)