Toulouse have pulled further away from the relegation zone in Ligue 1 thanks to a comfortable 3-0 victory over Metz.

It took the hosts just three minutes to open the scoring as Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro caused problems for Metz on the right wing before crossing to Francois Sirieix, who had the simple task of tapping in at the back post.

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Sirieix had the chance to double his tally after finding space inside the box, but his low strike was tipped past the post by Johann Carrasso.

Metz were mainly restricted to speculative efforts in the first half, with Kevin Lejeune seeing his shot from the edge of the box easily saved by Ali Ahamada.

Toulouse dominated the exchanges after the interval, and were rewarded with a second goal just after the hour mark when Wissam Ben Yedder earned space with a clever flick, before rounding the helpless Carrasso and tapping into an empty net.

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Chances for Metz were rare, and their struggles at both ends of the pitch would be costly as Toulouse cruised to victory in the second half.

Aleksandar Pesic added a third for the hosts in the 72nd minute when he powerful strike from the edge of the box took a deflection on its way to beating Carrasso.