Luiz Adriano bagged four goals before the break as Shakhtar Donetsk hit BATE Borisov for six in the first half of the Champions League clash between the two sides.
The Ukrainians were first to threaten, Darijo Srna testing BATE goalkeeper Sergey Chernik from a set piece in the second minute, but the stopper was untroubled by the captain's tame effort.
The hosts had a gilt-edged opportunity to break the deadlock in the ninth minute when Aleksandr Karnitski gained possession in the area, only to scuff his effort and allow Oleksandr Kucher to make a comfortable save.
Shakhtar took the lead in the 11th minute against the run of play as Taison latched on to a stray pass, ran the length of the pitch and pulled the ball back for Alex Teixeira to slot home.
The Belarusian champions almost levelled things up in the 18th minute when Alyaksandr Valadzko was given a clear sight of an empty net, but Srna produced heroics on the goalline to keep his effort out.
Shakhtar gave them a mountain to climb in the 27th minute after Chernik brought down Teixeira in the area and the referee pointed to the spot, allowing Adriano to tuck the resulting penalty into the bottom corner.
Two goals in as many minutes put the visitors out of sight, with Douglas Costa finding the net in the 35th and Adriano adding another moments later to put Shakhtar 4-0 up.
It got even worse for BATE before the break as Adriano completed his hat-trick in the 40th minute and added a sixth on the stroke of half time to add to the hosts' woes.
Mark Langshaw
