Scamacca the slayer! Atalanta climb into fourth with a thrashing of Empoli

Gianluca Scamacca scored twice and laid on another as Atalanta beat Empoli 3-0 to move into fourth place in Serie A on Monday night.

The former West Ham United flop put the visitors ahead with a classy finish just five minutes into the match, taking an Ademola Lookman pass and backheeling it through the legs of the advancing goalkeeper. Later, the former West Ham player turned provider, allowing Dutch midfielder Teun Koopmeiners to double Atalanta's lead with a rifled shot.

Aurelio Andreazzoli, who is now in his fourth stint as Empoli manager, has focused on shoring up the team's defence to address the rocky start to the season. While this approach has helped them accumulate points, the confidence gained from consecutive clean sheets was short-lived as Atalanta swiftly erased it with an impressive opening goal. This goal was crafted by Lookman's precise pass and executed with a daring backheel by Scamacca, his first club-level goal since early September.

Scamacca continued to attack aggressively. He struck the post with a curling effort and had a superb guided header disallowed for offside. In the first half, Scamacca turned into an assist provider, delivering an enticing ball into the box that Teun Koopmeiners powerfully struck home past Etrit Berisha.

Given Atalanta's recent trend of scoring exactly twice in their last four matches, Empoli might have anticipated the visitors adopting a defensive posture after the break. However, Scamacca, with his appetite for goals, had different plans and decisively secured the outcome with a drilled right-footed finish. Although he had two excellent chances to complete a hat-trick, he squandered them, with one awkward attempt looping over the goal from close range and another spectacular effort rebounding off the crossbar. On this night, he could have easily scored six.

Empoli's most promising moment occurred when Nicolo Cambiaghi raced down the right channel and unleashed a shot at Juan Musso. However, Empoli fans were ultimately left disappointed, as their team has only managed to score one home league goal all season. Andreazzoli's side finds themselves in the relegation zone, with a match against newly-promoted Frosinone on the horizon. In contrast, Atalanta, now in fourth place in the Serie A table, will carry a sense of optimism into their highly-anticipated clash with Inter Milan.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 10

Friday

Genoa - Salernitana 1-0 (1-0)

/Gudmundsson 35/

Saturday

Sassuolo - Bologna 1-1 (1-1)

/Boloca 44 - Zirkzee 3/

Lecce - Torino 0-1 (0-1)

/Buongiorno 41/

Juventus - Hellas Verona 1-0 (0-0)

/Cambiaso 90+7/

Sunday

Cagliari - Frosinone 4-3 (0-2)

/Oristanio 72, Makoumbou 76, Pavoletti 90+4, 90+6 - Soule 23, 37, Brescianini 49/

Monza - Udinese 1-1 (1-0)

/Colpani 27 - Lucca 67/

Inter - Roma 1-0 (0-0)

/Thuram 81/

Napoli - Milan 2-2 (0-2)

/Politano 50, Raspadori 63 - Giroud 22, 31/

Monday

Empoli - Atalanta 0-3 (0-2)

/Scamacca 5, 51, Koopermeiners 29/

Lazio - Fiorentina (in progress)