Leicester Tigers' misery in France continued as they lost their sixth consecutive game across the English Channel.
Their 23-9 defeat by four-times winners Toulouse got their Heineken Cup campaign in Pool Two off to a disappointing start.
Centre Gael Fickou's try just before half-time was the only one of the game.
It was a real momentum changer as the visitors looked set to go into the break with a deserved 9-6 lead on the back of Toby Flood's three penalties.
Instead, after the teenager's breakaway score, against the run of play, Toulouse led 11-9 at half-time.
Four Luke McAlister penalties in the opening 21 minutes of the second half then killed the game off as a contest to the delight of a baying 28,000 crowd at the Municipal Stadium, in Toulouse.
Tigers defended well in the final quarter but with a slippy ball and little quality possession, they could not make the break they needed to close the 14-point gap.
They will now realistically have to win all five of their remaining matches to qualify for the quarter-finals.
It was nearly a disastrous start to the game for them too as the home side came close to crossing the line in the opening minute.
A quick break down the right cut the Tigers defence to shreds, but Jean-Marc Doussain knocked on with the line begging.
Leicester settled quicker than Toulouse, though.
While the home side were throwing loose passes all over the place in the rain, Tigers were tight and solid in their basics and very nearly opened the scoring themselves in the eighth minute.
Clement Poitrenaud snagged an attempted clearance from his in-goal area, straight to Toby Flood who ran down the line only to be tackled a metre short by Yohann Huget.
Leicester's heavyweight pack then won the first penalty at the scrum and, soon after, Flood kicked Tigers into a 16th-minute lead.
McAlister soon levelled it up but Tigers were getting on top in the scrum with a couple of penalties going their way and plenty of Toulouse line-out ball being disrupted.
Flood kicked his side back ahead on 22 minutes but again the lead didn't last long as his Kiwi counterpart made it 6-6 within four minutes.
Toulouse continued to struggle to get anything going as Leicester's swarming defence forced them into numerous errors.
And when prop Guthro Steenkamp was sin-binned for a cynical foul on Scott Hamilton, Flood kicked Tigers into what looked like a 9-6 half-time lead after the visitors' pack was pushed back 10 metres.
Just as the break beckoned, Vereniki Goneva made a half-break in midfield but his attempted offload to Thomas Waldrom was fumbled, knocked on and Toulouse centre Gael Fickou kicked the ball on and won the race with Anthony Allen for the score.
It was the key point in the game and not only gave Toulouse belief but livened up a big Municipal Stadium crowd that had been quiet for 35 minutes.
The home side took their momentum into the second half and they quickly took the game dramatically away from Leicester within 20 minutes of the re-start.
McAlister made it 14-9 on 47 minutes after Tom Youngs had been harshly penalised for a shoulder barge in a ruck.
Brother Ben than made a decision to tap-and-go from a penalty right in front of the posts which would have surely brought the score back to 14-12 but when he passed to Anthony Allen, who knocked on, a big chance had gone begging.
Toulouse took full advantage and they completed a spell of 12 points in 14 minutes to kill the game off as a contest.
Tigers got on the wrong side of referee Nigel Owens and with the Toulouse scrum starting to turn the tide, former Sale man McAlister knocked over three more penalties to make it 23-9 just after the hour.
Leicester defended stoutly in the final quarter but were pinned back in their own half for long periods and could never make the break that they needed to sneak a losing bonus point.
