Paris Saint-Germain stormed to the top of Ligue 1 with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Lille at the Parc de Princes, but injuries to Salvatore Sirigu and Serge Aurier took some of the gloss off a stunning result.
Ezequiel Lavezzi claimed a memorable hat-trick, with Edinson Cavani netting twice and Maxwell getting in on the act as Laurent Blanc’s men ran riot to pile the pressure on a Lyon side who now sit second ahead of Sunday's trip to Reims.
In-form Lille had journeyed to the capital harbouring ambitions of snaring a UEFA Europa League place, but were utterly overwhelmed by the hosts, who remain on course for a remarkable domestic treble.
It took PSG less than 60 seconds to put their midweek Champions League disappointment - when they were dumped out by Barcelona - behind them as they hit the front with their first attack of the afternoon.
Aurier got away down the right and, although his low cross eluded the onrushing Cavani, it found its way to the back post where Maxwell was on hand to fire past Vincent Enyeama in the visitors' goal.
And the home faithful barely had time to settle back into their seats before the second goal arrived.
Taking full advantage of Lille's clumsy attempt to play the offside trap, Cavani raced clear and duly netted his 10th league goal of the season with a sublime chip that kissed the underside of the crossbar on its way in.
The shell-shocked visitors, meanwhile, took until the 18th minute to create their own first chance of the game and when they did, Sirigu got down sharply to keep out a near-post effort from Sofiane Boufal.
And any hopes Rene Girard's side may have had of mounting a comeback were all but extinguished 11 minutes later when they found themselves torn apart once again.
This time it was a wonderful throughball from Thiago Motta that released Cavani and the Uruguayan selflessly squared for Lavezzi to side-foot home from close range.
Even the first-half injuries suffered by Aurier and Sirigu failed to stifle the rampant hosts, who added a fourth just before the break, Blaise Matuidi teeing up Lavezzi for his second of the afternoon.
Marko Basa's looping header did briefly reduce the arrears on the hour-mark, but PSG soon added a fifth from the penalty spot.
Sebastien Corchia hauled down Lavezzi and received a red card for his troubles, with Cavani calmly firing the spot-kick past Enyeama.
There was still time for Lavezzi to burst into the box and rifle home to secure the match ball, sending PSG three points clear after a fourth consecutive league win.