Lionel Messi continued his brilliant form for club and country, scoring one and making the other two to guide Argentina to a comfortable 3-0 win over Venezuela and remain on course for qualification to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
A brace from Gonzalo Higuain and one from Messi helped Argentina go four points clear of second-placed Colombia, with just six games remaining.
"It was a very important victory," Higuain said. "We won playing well and put points on the board."
In other games, Uruguay conceded a late equalizer against Paraguay in a 1-1 draw, while Colombia cruised past Bolivia 5-0.
The latest victory in a solid campaign for Argentina was largely thanks to the brilliance from Messi. The FIFA World Player of the Year constantly tormented the Venezuela defense, forcing Daniel Hernandez to decent saves twice, before setting up Real Madrid forward Gonzalo Higuain for the opener on 29 minutes.
Messi then won himself a penalty, before dispatching it into the back of the net on the stroke of halftime. With the game already as good as won, the Barcelona forward added the gloss to the game, making that trademark run, before slotting the ball through to Higuain to score in the 60th minute.
Argentina can further firm their grip on a place in Brazil next year when they travel to Bolivia Tuesday.
Earlier, Colombia made easy work of the Bolivians courtesy goals from Macnelly Torres, Carlos Valdez, Teofilo Gutierrez, Radamel Falcao and Pablo Armero.
Colombia thought they had pretty much put the game to be in the first ten minutes, putting the ball into the back of the net via Falcao and Gutierrez, only for both strikes to be ruled out for offside.
However, there was never really any worry about the result, as the Colombians continued to dominate, with Torres netting in the 20th minute.
Valdez scored from close range minutes before halftime, with Gutierrez making it 3-0 on 62 minutes, coolly slotting home off a through ball from Torres.
Falcao, the much coveted man of Europe, got in on the act soon after with a typically assured finish, before Armero added the icing on the cake late on.
In Montevideo, Uruguay lost their chance of putting pressure on third-placed Ecuador, after only managing one point against Paraguay.
Liverpool striker Luis Suarez looked to have given the 2010 World Cup semi-finalists all three points with the opener on 82 minutes, only for Edgar Benitez to equalize with four minutes remaining.
Uruguay are currently fourth on 13 points, four behind Ecuador, who have a game in hand, and one ahead of fifth-placed Chile, who also have played one game less.
