Rangers do an Arsenal as Michael Beale joins Arsene Wenger and Di Canio in greatest acts of sportsmanship

Michael Beale has been applauded for his sportsmanship as he ordered his Rangers players to gift Partick Thistle an equaliser after a “misunderstanding” in the Scottish Cup.

But it’s not the first time a manager has stepped in to prevent a similar injustice – in fact it came almost exactly a year to the day since a controversial FA Cup tie that saw Arsene Wenger order Arsenal to replay their clash with Sheffield United for a similar reason. Beale insisted there was no cheating about it as Tillman was simply unaware of the situation when he chased down Kevin Holt and dispossessed him as the Thistle defender shaped to give Rangers the ball back.

But the manager couldn’t stand by and watch his side progress off the back of the controversial goal as he made a point of “upholding the standards of the club” – by ordering his side to let Thistle equalise. They went on to win it anyway through an own goal but it was a touch of class from the Rangers boss that earned applause from opposing number Ian McCall.

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In an eerie twist of fate, the show of sportsmanship from Beale was almost exactly 24 years to the day that Wenger requested that their FA Cup win over Sheffield United was voided. On February 13 1999, Nwankwo Kanu made his Gunners debut against Sheffield United in the cup and with 10 minutes to play, the Blades kicked the ball into touch so a player could receive treatment.

Kanu, seemingly unaware of the English game’s etiquette, intercepted a throw-in aimed at away shotstopper Alan Kelly and set up Marc Overmars up to score. There wasn’t enough time left in the game to allow an equaliser, and boss Wenger was left so red-faced by the incident that he requested the FA sanction a replay – which they won 2-1 and went on to reach the semi-finals.

Paolo Di Canio also showed his sportsmanship in December 2000 while playing for West Ham in a Premier League clash at Everton in December 2000. Home keeper Paul Gerrard was on the ground injured when an unmarked Di Canio was picked out in the area by team-mate Trevor Sinclair. But instead of putting the ball into an empty net to give his side a 2-1 lead, Di Canio caught it in his arms and allow his opponent to receive treatment. It was a touch of class that saw Di Canio win a FIFA Fair Play award.

The Beale incident though is most directly similar to Marcelo Bielsa in the English Championship in 2019. Bielsa, then in the early days of his tenure at Leeds, was in the dugout as his team took on Aston Villa, who had asked his team to put the ball out of play to allow Jonathan Kodija to receive treatment. The play stopped, but the ball didn’t leave the pitch, and Tyler Roberts pounced on the confusion to lay off Mateusz Klich for an easy finish.

It sparked a mass of altercations and a furious Bielsa told his Leeds players to let Villa equalise. In scenes reminiscent of that cup tie at Ibrox, Albert Adomah ran from the halfway line to score into an empty net – despite the efforts of Pontus Jansen to deny him.

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