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Belgium made it five wins from five in Group I to cement their position atop the standings in the race for qualification for Euro 2020.
Given the array of talent and disparity in quality between both teams, this was a match the Red Devils were largely expected to win, and they did as much to go three points clear of Russia in second place and eight ahead of Kazakhstan in third place.
Following Russia's win away to Scotland, Belgium's qualification for Europe's premier international competition is all but certain, and they would next travel to Hampden Park to take on Scotland on Monday, while San Marino hosts Cyprus on the same day.
Here, we shall be presenting three talking points from the fixture at the Satadio Olimpico in San Marino.
#1 Michy Batshuayi makes the most of his opportunity
With Eden Hazard alongside his brother having pulled out of the Belgian squad owing to injury and Romelu Lukaku rested, the goalscoring impetus fell upon Michy Batshuayi, as Roberto Martinez thrust him on from the start.
The 25-year-old was largely devoid of quality service in the first half, as a resolute San Marino defence kept the visitors at bay, but a 43rd minute penalty awarded to Belgium offered the Chelsea man a chance to open the scoring. It was one he grabbed with both hands, slotting the ball past Benedettini in the San Marino goal.
He got a brace late into the match, as he completed the rout with a header from Yannick Carrasco's cross, and this would do his confidence a world of good.
It has not exactly been smooth sailing for Batshuayi since he returned to Stamford Bridge from his loan spell with Valencia, as he has tasted just six minutes of action from four Premier League games thus far, and was even left entirely out of the squad for Chelsea's Matchday 2 clash with Leicester, playing with the club's U-21's instead.
Though San Marino are not the most illustrious of names, but goals do give confidence to strikers, and his brace could help Batshuayi restake a claim to the Chelsea starting lineup upon resumption of club duties.
#2 Roberto Martinez' substitutions makes a difference
Belgium are currently ranked as the number one team in the world, while their hosts on the night are ranked some 221 places beneath them to sit bottom of the FIFA rankings. Though the scoreline might illustrate the difference in quality of both teams, there were points when it did not seem like that.
The last time both sides met, Belgium walloped San Marino 8-0, but were restricted to just four shots on target in the first half, and needed a fortuitous handball by defender Mirko Palazzi to break the deadlock in the 43rd minute.
Ten minutes into the second half with the scores still at 1-0, Martinez turned to his bench, and summoned Nacer Chadli and Dries Mertens, with the former coming on for Adnan Januzaj, while the latter replaced Divock Origi.
It took just two minutes for both men to make their mark, as they combined for Mertens to open the scoring, and just five minutes later, the roles were reversed with the Napoli man turning provider.
This would have been rather disappointing for Roberto Martinez, as the fact that Belgium faced a team consisting of primarily part-time footballers offered an excellent opportunity for players on the periphery to make a statement. They failed to do so with Divock Origi in particular being the major culprit.
#1 Even in defeat, San Marino gave a good account of themselves
With a population of just a little over 33,000, the San Marino national team is the second smallest UEFA member nation by population, above Gibraltar.
They are currently ranked bottom of the FIFA rankings, and have spent the most time at the nadir of the standings since the rankings were introduced.
Their record on the international footballing scene makes for pretty grim reading, winning just one of the 155 fixtures they have played, conceding 627 and scoring just 23.
Any fixture against them is largely seen as an easy win for any side on the continent, and San Marino are without a point in any qualification fixture since holding Estonia to a goalless draw in November 2014.
It was virtually impossible to expect them to break that trend against the number one ranked team in the world and third-placed team at the last World Cup, but San Marino gave a good account of themselves in the game.
They managed to muster five shots against Belgium, with three of those being on target, and even won a corner kick (their first in their last four fixtures).
Even though they ultimately fell to another landslide defeat, San Marino can look back on this performance with pride, and use this as momentum moving head.
