Beijing Guoan sacked Roger Schmidt and replaced him with former Lyon manager Bruno Genesio on Wednesday -- despite the German taking the club to third in the Chinese Super League.

Schmidt inspired Beijing to the best start in CSL history as they won all 10 of their opening matches, to go with the FA Cup they lifted under him the previous season.

But they failed to progress out of their Asian Champions League group and stuttered of late in the CSL, falling to third, albeit only four points off leaders Guangzhou Evergrande.

With a crunch home clash against Fabio Cannavaro's Evergrande on August 11 and a third of the season left, Beijing have acted ruthlessly to oust the former Bayer Leverkusen coach, 52.

They lost their last three matches in all competitions, the final straw being a 1-0 defeat to mid-table Henan Jianye.

"We sincerely thank Mr. Schmidt for his hard work these two years and wish him all the best in his work and life," the club said in a statement on the Twitter-like Weibo.

Genesio, the 52-year-old Frenchman, takes charge until the end of the season.

He left Ligue 1 club Lyon earlier this year after 12 years at the club, first as an assistant and then head coach.

The former midfielder also played for Lyon from 1985 to 1995.

Beijing separately said that they had signed the Brazilian international midfielder Fernando from Spartak Moscow on loan.