Empoli cruise past Carpi

Empoli have extended their winning run in Serie A matches to three games by cruising to a 3-0 victory over Carpi this afternoon.

Ryder Matos came close to giving the visitors an early lead when he burst into the box and forced Lukasz Skorupski into a save from his attempt.

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Matos threatened again minutes later with another driving run that ended with the Brazilian firing wide from the edge of the area.

As the game approached half time Empoli missed a gilt-edged chance to take the lead as Andrea Costa could only head Leandro Paredes's free kick wide from just a few yards out.

Within a minute of the second half Empoli broke the deadlock as Massimo Maccarone raced onto Piotr Zielinski's ball over the top, before guiding a volley past Vid Belec.

The hosts doubled their five minutes later when Riccardo Saponara was slipped through on goal by Maccarone and drilled a low strike beyond the keeper.

The Azzurri were flowing with confidence and they soon extended their lead further as Marcel Buchel's threaded pass found Maccarone, who crashed in a powerful drive at the near post for his second of the match.

In the closing stages Antonio Di Gaudio and Marco Borriello came close to pulling a goal back for Carpi, but they were unable to find the net as they slipped to a 10th defeat in the league this season.