Inter Milan continued their inexorable march towards a fifth straight Serie A title as they crushed Cagliari 3-0 at the San Siro while AC Milan were held to a 0-0 draw at Bologna on Sunday.

That allowed AS Roma to leapfrog Milan into second as they extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 19 games with a crucial 1-0 success at Fiorentina.

Although Inter's lead was pegged back to eight points, they have a game in hand over the Roma and are 10 points ahead of third-placed Milan.

Ahead of the Milan derby two weeks ago the Serie A title race seemed to be alive and kicking with Milan knowing a victory would have left them three points behind and with a game in hand.

But they lost that and have drawn their next two, leaving the champions to creep over the hill and out of sight.

Goals from Goran Pandev, Walter Samuel and Diego Milito earned Jose Mourinho's men the three points that give them a seemingly unassailable lead.

It left Mourinho reflecting on a profitable month.

"It's an important victory because it puts us 10 points clear of second place," he said before Roma's win.

"We developed a lot of confidence in January and today (Sunday) we began with a confident and attacking mentality.

"Cagliari aren't an easy team to play and even when 2-0 down they didn't let up and created some problems.

"But we were solid and compact and Pandev had a great game."

Milan labored to a draw in Bologna with loan signing from Inter Mancini failing to impress on his debut.

Ronaldinho came closest to breaking the deadlock as he hit the bar with a sideways bicycle kick in the second half and in injury time captain Massimo Ambrosini also hit the bar with a header.

Leonardo said he had no complaints with his team but already he seemed to be throwing in the towel.

"I think things (in the league) are very clear. Inter have been winning for a few years with a solid foundation," he said. "I can't remember another team that managed to win so much for so many years in a row."