Now this is one of those footballing moments you just wish were more commonplace but are clearly an oasis of rarity in a sea of poor sportsmanship. Auxerre striker Valter Birsa was felled by Marseille man Bakari Kone, an offence the referee decided was worthy of a red card only to be told by the victim of the accidental challenge that he had indeed got the decision wrong.

Aside from the Cup action in Scotland and England on Saturday, France's Ligue 1 finished play and Danny Califf got on the score sheet in Denmark. France: Carlos Bocanegra started and went the full 90, as Rennes fell 4-0 to Olympique Marseille. Bakari Kone opened the scoring for L'OM in the 52nd, Mamadou Niang made it 2-0 in the 57th, Nicolas Douchez was credited with an own goal in the 58th, and Niang got his.

It has developed into some kind of a tradition that every year, when the African Cup of Nations takes place in January, Chelsea come out moaning about the effect it will have on their team with a number of players leaving their club duty to represent their countries in it's continent's most important competition.

Perhaps filled with the mythical goodwill towards men of the holiday season, Auxerre's Valter Birsa demonstrated an admirable bit of fair play in his side's final match before the Christmas break last week after Marseille's Bakari Kone was shown a red card for elbowing him in the face. Birsa pleaded with the ref to change his decision, arguing that the contact was accidental, even though it left him writhing on the ground.