Paris Saint-Germain moved six points clear at the top of Ligue 1 after beating Bastia 3-1 in an entertaining fixture at the Parc des Princes
Jeremy Menez opened the scoring on Friday with a finely-taken goal after a frustrating first half which ended goalless.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off the bench to score a penalty before another substitute, Wahbi Khazri, scored an audacious free-kick to ensure a grandstand finish, but Ezequiel Lavezzi ended all hopes of a comeback late on.
The hosts dominated the opening exchanges as Kevin Gameiro set up Lucas Moura, but he was unable to test France international Mickael Landreau in the Bastia goal.
PSG should have gone ahead soon after as the duo combined once more – Gameiro's cutback being fired uncharacteristically wide by the Brazil international.
The league leaders were proving too much for Bastia's rearguard as another golden chance went begging.
Menez embarked on a mazy run past several defenders before dragging his shot wide, only for Gameiro to ghost in and hit his effort against the post.
Despite being booed off at the break, Carlo Ancelotti's men started the second half in much the same way.
Maxwell took advantage of a lucky break and some lax defending to thread in a dangerous ball which was hurriedly dealt with by Sylvain Marchal.
With the frustration of the home fans building, the hosts were once more denied by the brilliant Landreau, who turned away Gameiro's audacious back-heel off the line.
But the resistance was broken in the 56th minute as Pastore raced into a decent position before teeing up Menez, who fired an unstoppable shot past Landreau.
The introduction of Ibrahimovic added another dimension to the hosts, who went further ahead after Julian Palmieri felled Lucas in the area on 71 minutes.
Up stepped the Swede to tuck away his 21st league goal of the season, equalling the totals set last season by Olivier Giroud and Nene.
Menez could have added a spectacular third after once more getting the better of three defenders before being denied by Landreau, but Bastia hit back.
Khazri came off the bench to strike a stunning free-kick past Salvatore Sirigu, who was off his line – seeing his club record of more than 940 minutes without conceding a league goal disappear.
Lavezzi headed in a third following a fluent attacking move to confirm a victory which moves pressure back onto the chasing pack of Lyon and Marseille.
