Inter made short work of Cagliari with a comfortable 3-0 victory, although the Sardinians had a goal incorrectly disallowed.

The Nerazzurri seemed just about unstoppable at the moment, but that was not enough to stop Massimiliano Allegri beating Jose Mourinho to the Panchina d'Oro award for Coach of the Year last week. Inter were without the suspended duo of Wesley Sneijder and Lucio, while Cristian Chivu and Dejan Stankovic were sidelined, but Samuel Eto'o made his comeback after Africa Cup of Nations duty.

Cagliari had key trequartista Andrea Cossu on a ban, plus Diego Lopez, Federico Marchetti and Cristiano Lupatelli injured. This meant third choice goalkeeper Michael Agazzi, signed from Triestina in the January transfer window, was thrown in at the deep end.

This fixture tends to be a tight affair, as last season it ended 1-1 and only once in the last six top flight visits have Cagliari lost by more than a single goal.

Despite playing at San Siro, it was Cagliari who conceded on a classic counter. Javier Zanetti charged down the right and pulled back for an Eto'o scuffed effort, but that accidentally turned into an assist for Goran Pandev at the back post.

Another cross from the right found Pandev, whose stop and volley was beaten away by Serie A debutant Agazzi. The Sardinians also threatened with Julio Cesar smothering Daniele Conti's snapshot.

Walter Samuel made it 2-0, this time from a Douglas Maicon corner kick, as the defender soared to nod into the near top corner from six yards.

There was controversy after 34 minutes when Cagliari did hit the back of the net with Aessandro Matri's chip. However, it was flagged for offside when in fact Davide Santon's backpass had released Matri, so the goal should not have been disallowed.

Moments later it was Julio Cesar who denied a goal with an incredible save on Nene's stunning volley from six yards. It was from point-blank range and the goalkeeper needed sharp instincts to palm it round the post.

In first half stoppages, Agazzi parried an Esteban Cambiasso free kick.

Straight after the restart, Inter made it 3-0 with a well-worked move. Eto'o and Pandev combined to thread through for Diego Milito, who held off his marker to roll into the far bottom corner from seven yards.

The Sardinians did not give in and had shots from Matri and Nene' charged down, while Matri also hit the side-netting.