Japan midfielder Shinji Ono set up two goals as Feyenoord scored three times in seven first-half minutes in a 4-1 drubbing of FC Groningen in the Dutch first division on Sunday.
After relegation-haunted Groningen had kept Feyenoord at bay for over half-an-hour Pierre van Hooijdonk broke the deadlock, and the floodgates, when he smashed home Ono's free-kick from the right in the 32nd minute.
Van Hooijdonk doubled his tally before Ono turned provider with a delightful cross for Australian midfielder Brett Emerton to score the third and all but end the game as a contest in the 39th minute.
Thomas Buffel netted his 10th goal of the season to put the result beyond doubt in the 55th minute before Sander van Gessel grabbed a consolation for the visitors seven minutes from time.
"We were really pumped up after hearing that Ajax had been beaten and it was nice to go three up in the first half," said Ono.
Feyenoord closed the gap on second-placed Ajax, which was beaten 1-0 away at FC Utrecht in an earlier kickoff. PSV Eindhoven leads the table with 54 points from 21 games with Ajax on 47 and Feyenoord on 43.