Matchweek 2: Accidental handball

Introduction  

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack and welcome to our weekly round-up section called ‘This Week’ on Premier Skills English.

Rich: Hi there. I’m Rich. We’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

Jack: We want you to use and practise these phrases by interacting with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.

Rich: If you listen to us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you can leave your comments in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.

Jack: You can find all our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page. 

Rich: The new Premier League season has kicked off so let’s start with our headlines!

Headlines

Jack: VAR denies City.

Rich: It looked like Gabriel Jesus had scored a dramatic injury-time winner against Tottenham but a moment later VAR overruled the decision for an accidental handball. It was a controversial end to the match which City dominated from start to finish. However, goals from Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura found equalisers for Spurs after Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero put City ahead.

Jack: Reds hold on against Saints.

Rich: Liverpool got a 2-1 away win at Southampton but had to hang on after Adrian’s blunder gave Southampton a late lifeline. Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino looked to have made the game safe for the Reds but the Liverpool goalkeeper passed the ball to Danny Ings to score. Ings then missed a late chance that would have levelled the scores.

Jack: Lampard returns home.

Rich: It was all about Frank Lampard’s homecoming at Stamford Bridge. The Chelsea legend was in the dugout for his first home game as Chelsea manager and it was all going perfectly when Mason Mount scored after only seven minutes. However, Leicester hadn’t read the script and Nigerian international, Wilfried Ndidi got the equaliser in the second half.

Vocabulary alert!

Jack: In our vocabulary alert, we look at some football English that we used in the headlines.

Rich: Our six words and phrases this week are: an accidental handball, to hold on, a blunder, a homecoming, in the dugout and not read the script.

Jack: Let’s start with something that caused a lot of controversy in that City-Spurs match: an accidental handball.

Rich: An accidental ball is when the ball hits a player’s hand or arm and the player didn’t know or couldn’t stop it from happening: the handball was accidental.

Jack: The next phrase is a phrasal verb and it’s to hold on. We said Liverpool held on against Southampton. In a football match, hold on means to survive in a dangerous situation. 

Rich: The dangerous situation was Southampton attacking near the end of the match. We also used the phrasal verb ‘hang on’ which can be used in the same way.

Jack: The next word is one we have spoken about before. It’s ‘blunder’ and it means to make a mistake. Liverpool’s goalkeeper made a blunder when he passed the ball to the Southampton attacker.

Rich: The next word is a homecoming. A homecoming is when you return to your home, your city or your football club after being away for a long time.

Jack: Frank Lampard played for Chelsea between 2001 and 2014 and he’s now Chelsea’s manager. Leicester City spoiled Frank Lampard’s homecoming by scoring an equaliser.

Rich: The next phrase is ‘in the dugout’. The dugout is the piece or shelter where the manager, coaches and substitutes sit during a match. Frank Lampard was in the Chelsea dugout for the first time against Leicester.

Jack: Our final phrase is a common football cliche and it’s ‘to read the script’. It’s usually used in the negative in football when a team doesn’t follow the storyline that was expected. 

Rich: The Chelsea-Leicester match was all about Frank Lampard’s homecoming and for Chelsea fans winning his first home match. However, Leicester didn’t read the script and got an equaliser.

Jack: OK, so there are our six words and phrases. Listen to this part of the podcast again if you are not sure how to use them.

Rich: The words and phrases are: an accidental handball, to hold on, a blunder, a homecoming, in the dugout and not read the script.

Football Awards

Jack: Right, every week, we give out three Matchweek awards. 

Rich: The awards are Player of the Week, Team of the Week and Goal of the Week.

Jack: In the comments section, you need to tell us if you agree with our choices.

Rich: Let’s start with Player of the Week. Kevin De Bruyne was fantastic for City and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored again for Arsenal.

Jack: But our Player of the Week goes to Norwich City’s Teemu Pukki for his hat-trick against Newcastle.

Rich: Some fabulous finishes from the Finnish finisher.

Jack: Hold on! I know he’s a striker from Finland but I think you need to say that again.

Rich: Some fabulous finishes from the Finnish finisher. 

Jack: If you want to practise your pronunciation, have a go at repeating that sentence. Right, Team of the Week.

Rich: We could go for Norwich? Yes, let’s go for Norwich. It’s there first win back in the Premier League and they bounced back from a big defeat against Liverpool on the opening day of the season.

Jack: Finally, our Goal of the Week. We’re going to leave this one to you. We’re going to give you three options and you need to tell us which you think was best. Jack.

Jack: Goal number one: Temmu Pukki for Norwich against Newcastle. His first goal of his three was the best - a powerful volley that gave the keeper no chance.

Rich: Goal number two: Ruben Neves for Wolves against Manchester United. Neves scored a sensational strike from the edge of the box. It went in off the crossbar which made it look even better.

Jack: Goal number three: Raheem Sterling for Manchester City against Spurs. Sterling doesn’t score many headers but what a cross from Kevin De Bruyne.

Rich: Right, OK. Those are our three options. Did you see them? Which do you think was the best? Let us know your choice and if you agree with our other weekly awards in our comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Matchweek Prediction 

Jack: Every week, Rich predicts the result of one Premier League match and we want you to make your prediction, too.

Rich: Make your predictions on the Premier Skills English website in the comments section and talk about the big match at the same time!

Jack: There are some big matches in Matchweek three but he biggest has to be Arsenal’s visit to Anfield.

Rich: I know we’ve both started the season with two wins so it should be a good game.

Jack: I think Arsenal could sneak a 1-0 win but let’s hear your prediction, Rich.

Rich: Like I said this should be an exciting, attacking game and I think there will be goals and I think you’re right Jack - Arsenal might get a goal. Aubameyang is in form and he could get a goal for Arsenal on the counter-attack but I don’t see Arsenal’s defence stopping Liverpool. I think Liverpool will get three with two of the goals coming late on in the match. Final score: Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal.

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for. I hope you have enjoyed this football round-up. Join the discussion at the bottom of the page on the Premier Skills English website. 

Rich: If you listen to us on Apple Podcasts, don’t forget to leave us a review. We’d love to hear from you.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.