Fresh off the back of a dramatic 1-1 draw against Olympiacos, PSV manager Peter Bosz kept Ricardo Pepi out of the starting line-up, stating that the American striker isn't "fit enough to play at this level yet" following his lengthy injury.
It didn't seem to be a problem for the reigning champions early on, as Mauro Jr. opened the scoring within five minutes after picking up a wayward pass from goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro and calmly finishing the one-on-one.
Midfielder Guus Til, who's filled in for Pepi as PSV's de facto striker, comfortably doubled his side's lead six minutes later and put the champions up two in the 28th minute. Mauro Jr. launched Til onto AZ's half, after which he embarked on an impressive solo run and fired the ball past Owusu-Oduro.
It wasn't all rainbow and sunshine for the Eindhoven outfit in the first half - AZ captain Sven Mijnans cut into PSV's lead after Czech stopper Matej Kovar mistimed his attempt to save Mijnans' shot and allowing the ball to roll under him.
Red-hot Joey Veerman, who only scored one goal in all of last season and was snubbed from the latest Netherlands squad, scored his fifth of the Eredivisie season and his fourth from outside the box, capping off a team move following an interception from Ismael Saibari.
PSV finished off a ruthless game in style via hat-trick hero Guus Til, who was left all alone in AZ's box and was allowed to freely head in PSV's 5-1.
The emphatic win was PSV's eleventh consecutive away victory in the Eredivisie and ended AZ's 8-game unbeaten streak at home. PSV visit NAC Breda after the international break, after which they visit Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League.
Check out all the match and player statistics from PSV-AZ on Flashscore
