Paris Saint-Germain extended their cushion at the top of French soccer's Ligue 1 to eight points on Friday after cruising past struggling Valenciennes 3-0 at the Parc des Princes.
Ezequiel Lavezzi struck a first-half opener for Laurent Blanc's men before two goals in two second-half minutes - the first from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the second an own-goal by Gary Kugelmacher - allowed PSG to coast to victory.
The win extends the Parisian club's unbeaten home run in the league to 25 matches and serves as an ideal rehearsal for Tuesday's trip to Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 of the Champions League.
"The focus before Leverkusen was above all to win this match," reflected Blanc.
"The players have been thinking about Leverkusen but (tonight) they put it to one side and got the job done.
"We could have been more efficient, but to score three goals and not concede any isn't bad," added the PSG coach.
Defeat for Valenciennes means Ariel Jacobs' side remain in the bottom three, two points from safety and fourth-from-bottom Evian TG.
Ahead of next week's first-leg tie in Germany, Blanc predictably chose to rotate his squad, making five changes to the side involved in the stalemate at Monaco last weekend.
Midfielder Yohan Cabaye made his full debut following his arrival from Newcastle United last month, with Jeremy Menez handed a rare start and Lavezzi returning to the side in place of Lucas Moura.
Blanc had expressed concerns of mental fatigue among his players following a congested run of fixtures but the Frenchman would have been encouraged by the hosts' bright start, but for their reckless finishing.
Ibrahimovic extended his league-best goals tally to 19.
Title challengers Monaco could cut the gap back to five points on Saturday, but Claudio Ranieri's men face a tricky trip to Corsica to face Bastia.
Already without Radamel Falcao, Monaco will also have to make do without new signing Dimitar Berbatov with the Bulgarian suffering a knee injury in the French Cup victory at Nice midweek.
