Pep Guardiola gave the fourth official a cuddle and shook linesman's hand after Arjen Robben scored for Bayern Munich in draw with Schalke

Guardiola also mentioned Bibiana Steinhaus after the game - the female referee whom he was almost banned for cuddling back in October

Pep Guardiola is at it again with officials, though this time it was rather more heart-warming.

Back in October the Bayern Munich manager almost faced a touchline ban after inappropriately touching female fourth official Bibiana Steinhaus while frustrated during a 0-0 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach.

Last night against rivals Schalke, Bayern went down to 10 men early after Jerome Boateng was sent off for a last-ditch tackle that led to a penalty; Manuel Neuer saved the spot-kick.

Guardiola berates Markus Haecker after a disallowed goal (Getty Images)

When a Robert Lewandowski goal was disallowed Guardiola rushed over to lambaste the assistant referee Markus Haecker, unhappy at the call.

However, Guardiola's mood was rather more jolly when Arjen Robben put the side into a surprise lead - after the goal he cuddled the fourth official before rushing all the way to the corner flag and back to Haecker to shake his hand.

Schalke eventually won a point when captain Benedikt Howedes scored to make it 1-1. Guardiola, who saw his team lose for the first time in the Bundesliga this season at Wolfsburg last weekend, said he was "very happy" with the result despite more dropped points.

"I'm not happy, I'm very, very, very happy," he said. "Obviously we wanted all three points, but 70 minutes with a man less against Schalke isn't easy.

"We controlled the game very well and we had enough chances. It was a much better performance than against Wolfsburg.

"Everything's OK -- there's no debate about the red card! We were lucky they missed the penalty."

Guardiola ran all the way to the corner flag to shake the assistant's hand (Getty Images)

Speaking to Sky Deutschland about the cuddle he also said: "I would have loved to celebrate the same way with (female) fourth official (Bibiana Steinhaus) in Gladbach".

Bayern remain eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.