France international Sofiane Guitoune scored a hattrick as Toulouse thrashed Lyon 53-21 to extend their advantage at the top of the French Top 14 on Sunday.

The league leaders dotted down on seven occasions in all to move seven points clear of second-place Clermont who overcame Pau 27-14 earlier in the day.

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Guitoune, whose last international appearance came at the 2015 World Cup, added tries number 10, 11, and 12 to his name for the campaign in all competitions.

The hosts trailed early on as Xavier Mignot dotted down following Zach Holmes' penalty goal on six minutes.

Guitoune's first touchdown of the match came 60 seconds later and Holmes then added a second three-pointer.

Lyon wing Noa Nakaitaci then pounced to give the away side the advantage as former Toulouse half-back Jean-Marc Doussain added the conversion. The remaining 20 minutes of the first half were dominated by the home side, Guitoune scored twice before Sebastien Bezy, Pita Ahki and Lucas Tauzin all went over for additional tries.

Lyon head coach Pierre Mignoni brought on a wave of substitutes five minutes into the second half.

Replacement stand-off Jonathan Wisnewski closed the gap with a converted try on 53 minutes to repay his coach's faith in him.

Louis-Benoit Madaule cemented the victory and the half-century of points with a seventh try with 13 minutes to play after Ahki's side-stepping efforts in midfield to break the defensive line.

Toulouse president Didier Lacroix said he was planning on signing an extra hooker as Italy's Leonardo Ghiraldini was ruled out until the end of the season with a knee injury suffered on international duty.

It comes weeks after it was announced France's Julien Marchand will not play again this campaign with a similar problem.

Lyon remains in fifth place in the table after their second straight defeat.

© Agence France-Presse