Inter cruised to a 4-0 victory against Serie B side Cittadella, who were reduced to 10 men, at San Siro on Sunday afternoon to progress to the fourth round of the Coppa Italia.
Defenders Jonathan and Andrea Ranocchia scored either side of Palacio’s double, one of which was a penalty, in Inter’s first competitive match of the campaign due to their ninth-placed finish in Serie A last season.
Jonathan headed Inter ahead from a Fredy Guarin cross inside the 20 minute mark, after neat work from Ricky Alvarez on the edge of the box.
Cittadella responded after going behind, when Nunzio Di Roberto’s ambitious effort forced Samir Handanovic into action just moments later.
Rodrigo Palacio grabbed his first of the match from the penalty spot. The Argentine striker was through on goal when Simone Pecorini hauled him down and was given a resultant red card 15 minutes before half-time.
Palacio wasted the chance to put the Nerazzurri 3-0 up, wasting a glorious one-on-one opportunity after being played through by Esteban Cambiasso.
Handanovic then got a fingertip to Nicolau Dumitru’s driven shot to prevent 10-man Cittadella from getting a life-line. Jonathan went close to doubling his tally for the afternoon but was denied from close-range by a sprawling Raffaele Di Gennaro, who is incidentally on loan from Inter.
The on-loan keeper was beaten for a third time however on the hour mark, when Palacio shot high into the roof of the net inside the box.
Ranocchia added a scrappy fourth just four minutes later to put the tie beyond any doubt. The Cittadella defence failed to clear an Inter corner and the Italian defender bundled the ball home from inside the six-yard box.
Both teams ended the 90 minutes with 10 men as Mauro Icardi limped off five minutes from the end with an ankle injury.
Walter Mazzarri’s side will now face newly-promoted Serie B team Trapani in the fourth round of the Coppa Italia.
