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Chelsea   2 - 1   Fulham

Chelsea opened up a five-point gap at the top of the Premier League table as they came from behind to beat Fulham.

The visitors stunned Chelsea by taking the lead after four minutes when Zoltan Gera hooked in from 12 yards.

Fulham then defended comfortably as Chelsea struggled to make an impact but Didier Drogba finally got the equaliser when he headed in at the far post.

And an unfortunate own goal by Chris Smalling handed Chelsea a victory that had looked unlikely for long spells.

For much of the match Chelsea looked short of ideas and out-of-sorts as Fulham produced a performance that was full of commitment and excellent defending.

Even without the injured Brede Hangeland, Fulham looked comfortable at the back – until John Pantsil went off injured, and that was perhaps the turning point of the game.

Until then Pantsil had got the better of Drogba in an excellent battle, with the Ivorian striker cutting a frustrated figure.

But in the end Drogba helped give Chelsea the perfect farewell present before he heads off to the African Cup of Nations.

It was a crushing blow for Fulham but worse was to follow.

Three minutes later, Daniel Sturridge’s cross-shot was beaten out by Schwarzer but it hit Smalling and he put through his own net trying to clear.

Kalou clipped the bar with a shot late on, but the result was already harsh enough on Fulham.

Chelsea, however, will be buoyed by a victory that was achieved when they were far from their best.

Yet it might have been so different. If ever there was a perfect time for Fulham to play Chelsea, perhaps this was it with the Blues having won only one of their five previous games in December.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti said after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Birmingham that his side were lacking confidence and that was certainly in evidence.

The Italian made six changes to his line-up but the number of alterations outweighed the number of chances created.

Time and again Fulham easily repelled half-hearted Chelsea attacks

Right from the start, Chelsea looked off key and when skipper John Terry failed to head away Paul Konchesky’s cross, Gera was on hand to hook the ball in after Bobby Zamora had nodded it his way.

A miserable afternoon for Terry continued when he suffered cuts under his eye and on his cheek after a clash with team-mate Yuri Zhirkov, who will not look back fondly on his first Premier League start.

For all their possession, Chelsea barely forced a save from Mark Schwarzer in the first half – the Australian easily gathered two Drogba efforts, while Salomon Kalou dragged a shot well wide.

And just after the break, Zamora should have punished Chelsea when he intercepted Ricardo Carvalho’s backpass but Petr Cech made a fine save.

That might have wrapped up Fulham’s second victory over Chelsea in the last three decades, but instead they ended up suffering a 17th defeat.

Drogba gave warning that Chelsea were far from finished when he tested Schwarzer with a fizzing shot.

And it was Drogba who hauled his side back into the game when he exploited the space at right-back, after Pantsil had been forced off injured, and headed in Paulo Ferreira’s far-post cross.

It was a crushing blow for Fulham but worse was to follow.

Three minutes later, Daniel Sturridge’s cross-shot was beaten out by Schwarzer but it hit Smalling and he put through his own net trying to clear.

Kalou clipped the bar with a shot late on, but the result was already harsh enough on Fulham.

Chelsea, however, will be buoyed by a victory that was achieved when they were far from their best.

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.

Seven European club matches, including one Champions League qualifier, are under investigation after last week's exposure of a match-fixing ring, UEFA have said.

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"From the original list of around 40 fixtures in Europe that were considered suspicious in terms of results, UEFA is today further investigating seven European club competition fixtures under its jurisdiction in more detail," said UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino in a statement.

"The five clubs involved are KF Tirana (Albania), FC Dinaburg (Latvia), KS Vllaznia (Albania), NK IB Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Budapest Honved (Hungary).

German police said on Friday that they had dismantled a gang with more than 200 suspected members operating in nine European leagues.

Wednesday's announcement came after a meeting with the nine national associations who were named by police as having domestic matches under investigation.

The matches were played in July and August this year; one in the Champions League second qualifying round, four in the Europa League second qualifying round and two in the Europa League third qualifying round.

"Irrespective of the above matches, UEFA is today also opening its own investigation into the possible involvement of three referees and one other individual connected to UEFA, in the match fixing," added the statement.

"Contrary to media reports, there is no suspicion or investigation into any UEFA administration staff.

"UEFA wishes to stress that it has been cooperating fully with the German police and authorities on the case and indeed, following a request from the German police for information on a number of matches, UEFA was able to assist thanks to its betting fraud detection system.

"UEFA will file criminal complaints, together with the relevant national associations, as soon as possible against clubs, officials and/or players in those countries concerned.

UEFA named the seven games as:

Stabaek IF v KF Tirana (July 21, Champions League second qualifying round)

Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv v FC Dinaburg (July 16, Europa League second qualifying round)

FC Dinaburg v Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv (July 23, Europa League second qualifying round)

KS Vllaznia v Rapid Vienna (July 23, Europa League second qualifying round)

Rapid Vienna v KS Vllaznia (July 16, Europa League second qualifying round)

NH IK Ljubljana v Metalurg Donetsk (Aug 6, Europa League third qualifying round)

Fenerbahce v Honved (July 30, Europa League third qualifying round)