Lionel Messi has set up all three goals as Paris Saint-Germain stretched their Ligue 1 lead to 12 points with a 3-1 comeback win at 10-man Saint Etienne.
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But the Argentine superstar's illustrious teammate Neymar sustained an ankle injury and had to be taken off on a stretcher in Sunday's win.
PSG made the most of Timothee Kolodziejczak's red card on the stroke of halftime as Messi fed Marquinhos for two headed goals and set up Angel Di Maria to seal a clinical turnaround after Les Verts had opened the scoring through Denis Bouanga.
The result put the capital side on 40 points from 15 games.
St Etienne, who mounted on a decent challenge despite being a man down as snow fell at the Geoffroy Guichard Stadium, are now bottom of the standings with 12 points.
The game marked Sergio Ramos's debut for PSG, almost five months after joining from Real Madrid as a free agent, the Spaniard starting in central defence alongside Marquinhos.
The hosts went ahead after 24 minutes when Kolodziejczak, set up by a superb Wahbi Khazri through pass, shot straight at goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma but Bouanga followed up and fired home from point-blank range.
The momentum, however, swung towards PSG in a couple of minutes on the stroke of halftime.
Kolodziejczak was harshly shown a straight red card for bringing down Kylian Mbappe as the France striker charged towards goal and Marquinhos headed home Messi's perfectly-executed free kick.
Messi was at it again 11 minutes from time, whipping a fine pass behind the back of the defence for Di Maria, who finished with a curled effort into the far corner of the net.
Marquinhos headed home again from Messi's cross in the last minute, three minutes after Neymar was carried off after twisting his ankle.
Rennes are second after a 2-0 victory at Lorient with late goals from Gaetan Laborde and Jeremy Doku.
Marseille moved up to fourth as Pol Lirola's second-half strike gave them a 1-0 win against lowly Troyes.
Monaco and Strasbourg drew 1-1, with Ludovic Ajorque's penalty early in the second half cancelling out a spot-kick from Wissam Ben Yedder just before the break.
Brest came from behind to win 2-1 at strugglers Bordeaux, where Jeremy Le Douaron struck twice in the second half.
N'Clomande Ghislain Konan struck a last-minute goal to give Reims a 1-0 win over Clermont, whose troubles continue after a fifth-straight defeat.
Australian Associated Press
