Lionel Messi kept Argentina in charge of their South American qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup by inspiring a 3-0 win over Venezuela on Friday.
Messi scored once and set up two goals for Gonzalo Higuain at the Monumental Stadium to leave Alejandro Sabella’s side four points clear at the top with 23 points after 10 matches.
Argentina controlled the tempo from the outset, looking to find gaps in the visitors’ defence at every opportunity.
It was the Argentina captain who tested Daniel Hernandez early on with two shots at goal before providing the ball for Higuain to open the scoring on 29 minutes.
The gulf in quality between the teams became even more evident thereafter and Argentina duly doubled their lead in the 44th minute, Messi despatching the penalty after Venezuela defender Gabriel Cichero had handled the ball inside his area.
And the victory was wrapped in style just before the hour mark when Messi wreaked havoc in the Venezuela defence for Higuain to apply the finish.
With just six games remaining, Argentina’s win on Friday was an important one as Colombia eased to a 5-0 win over Bolivia in Barranquilla.
Colombia moved into second-place ahead of Ecuador thanks to goals from Macnelly Torres, Carlos Valdez, Teofilo Gutierrez, Radamel Falcao and Pablo.
Argentina continue their campaign in Bolivia on Tuesday while Venezuela, battling for the fifth place, host Colombia.