It was Inter's second league win in a row and lifts it to 15th spot in the Serie A standings, four points off the bottom three.

Siena striker Franco Brienza was sent off seconds after the goal.

Inter leapfrogs Fiorentina, which lost 2-0 at Palermo, following goals from Fabrizio Miccoli and Josip Ilicic. Fiorentina also had Cesare Natali dismissed in the final minutes after he picked up a second yellow card for dissent.

Cesena beat Bologna for its first victory of the season last week and Adrian Mutu's double saw his team win again as a 2-0 triumph against Genoa pushed it off the foot of the table.

Elsewhere, Cagliari drew 1-1 with Bologna.

Inter was desperately seeking a victory following just one win its past three league games. But they had few chances in a drab match at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Claudio Ranieri's team should have taken the lead on the half hour mark. Siena goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic flapped at a corner and the ball fell to Walter Samuel, who woefully mis-hit his shot across goal.

It could have been worse for Inter as Siena immediately counterattacked. But Brienza's finishing touch flew inches over the crossbar.

Inter snatched all three points right at the death. Thiago Motta found Castaignos in the middle of the area and the Dutch youngster managed to squeeze a shot in between two Siena defenders for his first goal in Inter colors.

Brienza received a second yellow and his marching orders in stoppage time for dissent.

Cesena also managed to record a second consecutive victory. Genoa missed several chances to take the lead, most notably when Rodrigo Palacio passed instead of shooting when one on one with Cesena goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli and the ball was scrambled to safety.

It was to rue its missed opportunities as Cesena was awarded a penalty in the 70th minute after Emiliano Moretti fouled Erjon Bogdani.

Mutu stepped up and cheekily looped his spot kick over the diving Sebastien Frey.

Mutu doubled his tally 10 minutes later with a stunning 25-yard strike into the top right corner, which gave Frey no chance.

Cesena moves into 19th in the standings and now has a point more than Lecce which takes over bottom spot.

Fiorentina is closer to being sucked into a relegation battle after it lost 2-0 at Palermo.

Miccoli beat the offside trap in the 22nd minute to give the home side the lead. The Palermo captain timed his run to perfection as he raced onto Ilicic's through ball on toward goal, chased by Alessandro Gamberini, before slotting home.

It was Miccoli's fourth goal this season and the sight of him being stretchered off at the end of the first half after complaining of a right knee problem will be a worry for Palermo.

Fiorentina came close to leveling when Natali hit the crossbar in the 70th. Just three minutes later the Tuscan side found itself further behind when Ilicic fired a stunning free kick into the top right corner from over 25 yards out.

It was Palermo's sixth consecutive home victory and sees it move into sixth in the table, six points behind leader Juventus which has a game in hand.

Cagliari and Bologna had to settle for a 1-1 draw which will please neither of the struggling sides.

Cagliari gifted Bologna the lead in the 75th minute. Cagliari captain Daniele Conti cleared a cross but only as far as Marco Di Vaio, who lashed it home from close range.

Conti atoned for his error six minutes later after he was fouled by Nicolo Cherubin in the area. He stepped up to the spot and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to ensure Cagliari a share of the spoils.

Bologna is a point off the bottom three, with Cagliari just three points further ahead.