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Manchester City have sacked manager Mark Hughes and appointed Roberto Mancini on a three-and-half year contract.

City released a statement confirming Hughes, who has lost just two games this season, has had his contract terminated.

Hughes spent more than £100 million pounds on players during the close season in a spending spree fuelled by the petro-dollars of billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a bid to secure a Champions League place.

With the likes of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry and Kolo Toure added to the squad, City were tipped as top-four contenders.

Even the dream of a first league title since 1968 seemed possible when they began the campaign with four consecutive wins, including a 4-2 home victory over Arsenal.

But a run of seven draws halted their early season momentum and Wednesday’s dismal 3-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur fuelled rumours that Mancini was being lined as the new manager.

City are currently sixth in the table.

Mancini, who made his name as a striker at Sampdoria, won three consecutive Serie A titles as coach of Inter Milan before being sacked at the end of the 2007-08 season.

Mancini was at Saturday’s Premier League game against Sunderland, which saw City beat Sunderland 4-3.

Hughes applauded all four sides of the stadium and looked grim-faced as he walked down the tunnel for the final time with his fate already sealed.

Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said on the club’s website after the game: “Prior to the current season beginning, with significant investment in players and infrastructure in place, the consensus between the Board and coaching staff was that appropriate agreed targets should be set for the 2009/2010 season.

“The targets were agreed as a result of the player acquisition strategy of the club being radically accelerated in the summer as a result of very favourable conditions for any buying club. It was also based on the fact that the infrastructure of the club had been overhauled completely at great cost in order to create the best possible environment for the team.

“A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed and set. Sheikh Mansour and the Board felt that there was no evidence that the situation would fundamentally change. This is a particularly difficult announcement given the personal investment over the past 15 months on all sides and we would like to put on record our respect for and thanks to Mark Hughes and we wish him the best in his future career.”

Brian Kidd will join Mancini as assistant manager with Hughes’ backroom staff of Mark Bowen, Eddie Niedzwiecki, Kevin Hitchcock and Glyn Hodges also leaving the club.

“Roberto is a hugely experienced manager with a proven track record of winning trophies and championships. His experience and track record speak for themselves. What is absolutely clear is that Roberto believes in Manchester City’s potential to achieve at the highest level and importantly in his own ability to make this happen. My hope is that our incredible fans will join us in welcoming Roberto to the football club,” the statement finished.

Marseille were undone by the brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo as they crashed out of the Champions League with a 3-1 Group C defeat to Real Madrid at Stade Velodrome.

The French side needed to win and hope that Milan failed to beat Zurich but, while the Rossoneri were held in Switzerland, Marseille could not keep their part of the bargain in an entertaining clash.

Ronaldo (pictured) hit two classy goals near the start and end of the match, with Raul Albiol also on target for Los Merengues.

Lucho Gonzalez had earlier equalised for L'OM but he turned from hero to zero after missing a penalty that would have made it 2-2 with 21 minutes left.

The match got off to a cracking start with Real taking a fifth-minute lead thanks to a wonderful Ronaldo free-kick.

The former Manchester United forward came in for strong criticism following his petulant antics during Madrid's 4-2 Liga win over Almeria at the weekend, but he atoned for his histrionics and red card with a spectacular shot from all of 35 yards that rose, dipped and curled into the top left.

Marseille levelled six minutes later when Lucho smashed the ball into the left side of the goal after Albiol half-cleared Brandao's far-post header from Taye Taiwo's left-wing cross.

The hosts thought they had taken the lead on the quarter hour but Brandao was just offside when he raced clear on to Mamadou Niang's pass.

At the other end manic scenes following a corner saw Madrid denied a second by the woodwork (from Ronaldo's header), keeper Steve Mandanda (from Pepe's drive) and their old-boy Gabriel Heinze (from Sergio Ramos flying in).

Minutes Ronaldo headed Ramos's cross over when he should have scored after a scintillating break from Real.

Aside from a lull midway through the first half, the match was played at break-neck speed and kicked back into life on 42 minutes, when a Madrid counter saw Rafael van der Vaart play Gonzalo Higuain through only to be denied by a last-ditch tackle from Laurent Bonnart.

Madrid were turning it on now, and in first-half stoppage time Marcelo put wide as he slipped following some great skill to get clear of the home defence, while Ronaldo stung Mandanda's palms with another audacious free-kick.

The second half continued in a similar vein, with Iker Casillas and Pepe combining to deny Brandao after Niang played him through, while at the other end Van der Vaart forced Mandanda to save and Marcelo fired over after another excellent pass from Van der Vaart.

Manuel Pellegrini's side re-took the lead on the hour mark, defender Albiol drilling the ball home after Van der Vaart's corner was half-cleared by Heinze but, six minutes later, the Spaniards handed Marseille a great chance to swing the game back their way.

A rush of blood from Casillas saw him clatter into Niang on the right side of the Real penalty area, with the Senegalese probably too wide to score.

Indeed, Casillas's covering team-mates probably spared him a red card and the delay that followed as skipper Niang was helped off with a shoulder injury aided Madrid further as, with a three-minute gap between foul and penalty, Lucho blasted the spot-kick off the crossbar.

 Michael Owen gave injury-ravaged Manchester United a 3-1 victory over Wolfsburg at the Volkswagon Arena as they topped Champions League Group B.

Owen gave United the lead a minute before half-time with a clinical headed finish from close-range to leave the German champions under the cosh as they battled for second spot in the group.

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Bosnian Edin Dzeko hit back for the hosts with an instinctive finish in the 56th minute as his powerful header levelled the match up at 1-1, and the hosts sensed their opportunity.

Armin Veh's side contrived to squander numerous clear-cut opportunities, but it was Owen who showed the required composure as he netted his second with a close-range finish in the 83rd minute.

Wolfsburg midfielder Sascha Riether missed a golden chance to equalise in stoppage time, but United broke at pace through Owen, who coolly dinked his shot over the diving Diego Benaglio to seal his hat-trick.

Having already made the knockout stages, United's mission in Germany was simply to draw to finish top in their group, but their cause was not helped with 15 players missing.

United were forced to field a makeshift side with Michael Carrick, Ji-Sung Park and Darren Fletcher in defence, but the visitors battled valiantly to frustrate Wolfsburg, with only Dzeko troubling the frantically-assembled back-four.

Despite a shoddy surface which was not remotely conducive to passing football, both sides attempted to stroke the ball, with the German champions seeking valuable points to keep them in the hunt for the group's second spot.

Wolfsburg will feel aggrieved after Carrick brought down Makoto Hasebe in the United box with a clumsy challenge in the 13th minute, but the Dutch referee handed the visitors a reprieve as he awarded a corner.

The German side proceeded to squander two glorious headed opportunities in the first half, as Andrea Barzagli inexplicably headed wide in the 18th minute and, moments later, Misimovic planted his effort wide after meeting Marcel Schafer's cross, unmarked from close range.

It was hard work for the visitors on the turgid surface, but the pacey Danny Welbeck thought he had capped a fine move after a slick exchange from Paul Scholes and Darren Gibson on the half hour as he slotted in smartly, only to look up in dismay to see the offside flag.

With third-placed CSKA Moscow leading at half-time it was crucial the Germans got back into the game and 10 minutes into the second-half that is exactly what they did. United defended stoutly to stifle Dzeko, with the one exception being the Bosnian's free header to level the scores after Schafer picked the striker out in space.

But Owen was on hand to make it two with an opportunist strike after stunning work from substitute Gabriel Obertan, who jinked mesmerically between three Wolfsburg defenders to provide the striker with the simplest of finishes.

Owen's third was an individual effort as he broke down the left, then cut inside and across Ricardo Costa, before a delightful dink over the onrushing Benaglio to clinch victory for United and compound Wolfsburg's frustration.

As a result of the victory, United are now unbeaten in their last 15 Champions League away games and have won the last five, while Wolfsburg are usurped by CSKA Moscow, who clinch second spot.

Ferguson will have been delighted with the application of his players, but will now have to turn his attention to the ensuing selection headache in the lead-up to his side's Premier League clash with Aston Villa at the weekend.