Sarries brush off Toulouse
The Premiership champions were in control from the off and a brace of tries from American wing Chris Wyles, plus a score from prop Mako Vunipola and 17 points from the boot of flyhalf Owen Farrell secured victory.
Toulouse, playing in incredibly difficult circumstances less than 24 hours after the terror attacks on Paris with the French nation in mourning, got a consolation try through replacement hooker Christopher Tolofua, converted by scrumhalf Nicolas Bezy.
After a perfectly observed minute's silence in respect to those affected by the terrible events in the French capital, Saracens got off to a fast start.
Farrell kicked two early penalties as Saracens played with a healthy wind behind them and dominated territory with an accurate and disciplined kicking game.
Toulouse were finding it hard to get out of their own half and they conceded the opening try when Vunipola's pass sent Farrell scampering through a gap, with the prop driving over a couple of phases later.
Farrell added the extras and quickly added another penalty to pad the lead out to 16-0. Saracens were in complete control and they should have had a second try when Alex Goode countered from deep and linked up with centre Duncan Taylor, only for the Scotland centre to run out of support.
However, Toulouse infringed and Farrell kicked his fourth penalty. The fifth was not long in coming when Toulouse tighthead Census Johnston was sin-binned for persistent offending at the scrum.
It had been a superb opening 40 minutes from the hosts and they rounded it off in fine fashion when they capitalised on a Toulouse handling error and worked the space for Wyles to crash over in the corner to make it 27-0 at the break.
Even with the wind at their back, Toulouse knew they needed to score first after the break, but instead it was Saracens who got over the tryline.
Bezy's loose pass after fielding a kick was seized upon by Brad Barritt and, while the French side scrambled bravely in defence, they could not prevent Wyles getting the ball down to extend the home side's lead.
To their credit, Toulouse hit back as Yoann Mastri carried them up to the line and Tolofua was the man to dot the ball down under the gaze of referee George Clancy.
Saracens pressed for a fourth try and a bonus point but were held out by Toulouse. The English side top the standings with the other scheduled Pool One fixture between Oyonnax and Ulster having been postponed in the wake of the events in Paris.
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Whyles 2, M Vunipola
Con: Farrell
Pens: Farrell 5
For Toulouse:
Try: Tolofua
Con: Bézy
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Alistair Hargreaves, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Marcelo Bosch.
Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Toby Flood, 11 Timoci Matanavou, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 6 Yacouba Camara, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Yoann Maestri, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Millo-Chluski, 20 Imanol Harinordoquy, 21 Talalelei Gray, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Yann David.
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
