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.

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.