Fair play of the day: Watch Bayern give ball back after opponent admits he wasn't fouled

Published Mar. 19, 2017 3:36 p.m. ET

Aaron West

Bayern Munich beat Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 on Sunday, continuing their dominating run in the Bundesliga. It was a typical three points for the (probable) soon-to-be champs, but there was an extremely atypical moment in this one that caught the eye.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/843524163142791168

M'Gladbach midfielder Jonas Hofmann, with his goal needing a goal to equalize, went down under a challenge from Bayern midfielder Thiago Alcantara. The referee duly awarded a free kick to M'Gladbach until Hofmann intervened. He let the head official know he wasn't actually fouled, and asked for the ball to be given to Bayern.

The good sportsmanship didn't stop there though. Appreciative of Hofmann's forthrightness, Bayern took the resulting drop kick and played it back to M'Gladbach to restart play, capping off a nice little piece of fair play.

Who says there's no respect left in the game?