This Week: Against the run of play

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

In This Week, we’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

If you are listening to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify you can also visit the Premier Skills English website at britishcouncil.org/premierskillsenglish where you’ll be able to download the podcast.

On the Premier Skills English website, you can read the transcript and join the Premier Skills English community by completing a language task in the comments section. This will really help you remember the new words and phrases from the stories from the Premier League.

This week, I’ve got three stories for you. I’m going to talk about Brighton’s trip to Chelsea, Bournemouth taking on Spurs and West Ham welcoming Arsenal.

The language from the stories that I’m going to talk about this week is:

• Fleeting moments of brilliance
• Star-studded
• Against the run of play
• To make the difference
• To go from bad to worse
• To put something on a plate for someone
• To drop the ball
• A scuffle
• To surge forwards

But before I get to this week’s stories, I want to give you the answer to last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week, here’s one more chance to guess now.

Last week’s football phrase was ******. This move is sometimes the best way to play the ball forward. However, it is humiliating for a defender. We use this term to describe when a player kicks the ball through the legs of their opponent.

Congratulations to Shikabala from Egypt, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, Denis2000 from Belarus, Bicooz from Ehypt, Denis94 from Spain, Hasan from Turkey, Cezario Abrantes from Brazil, Renan from Brazil, Watfa from Syria, Onkessai and Inglewood from Japan, Erikpgd from Mexico and MohamedKuna from Sudan. And welcome and congratulations to some new commenters. Welcome to Satt, Ken and Southern Cross from Japan. Thanks for your kind words Ken. and welcome to England Lover from Saudi Arabia. It’s lovely to read your comments. All of you managed to work out that the humiliating move I was looking for was nutmeg.

At the end of this podcast, I have a new football phrase for you and I think it’s the hardest football phrase I’ve ever challenged you with so I wonder if any of you will get it.

Thanks for all of your responses to the task. This week I have a very similar task for you, but with a little more for you to think about.

Now it’s time for this week’s first story. When you listen, I’d like you to try to answer the following question:

Who scored first?

Enciso seals Brighton comeback

When Frank Lampard was asked about Chelsea’s performance against Brighton on Saturday, he was not happy. And apart from fleeting moments of brilliance from his star-studded team, Chelsea’s performance on the pitch did not really give him or the fans many reasons to be happy.

On the other hand, Brighton were brilliant. They have been playing with so much confidence and have been a joy to watch.

Totally against the run of play, Chelsea scored first. Conor Gallagher put the home side ahead after 13 minutes, but his shot took a huge deflection and looped out over the goalkeeper.

Conceding a goal didn’t seem to have any impact on Brighton. They just kept pushing hard, fearlessly committing players on the attack so that the home team was often overloaded in their own area. After several near misses and blocked shots, Danny Welbeck eventually equalised with a header.

The winning goal came in the second half from the confident boot of Brighton’s 19-year-old Paraguayan forward Julio Enciso. When the youngster found himself in space 25 yards out, he had time to steady himself before thundering home a stunner.

Mykhailo Mudryk made a bold run and strike in the closing minutes of the match, reminding the fans what he can do. But when the final whistle was blown, the blues were deservedly beaten by Brighton.

Final score: Chelsea 1 - 2 Brighton & Hove Albion

Before the story, I asked you:

Who scored first?

The answer is: Conor Gallagher scored first for Chelsea against the run of play.

The phrases from the story that I want to talk about are:

• Fleeting moments of brilliance
• Star-studded
• Against the run of play

Fleeting moments of brilliance

The adjective fleeting means short or quick. Originally, I think it meant changeable or unstable. We use the verb flit which means to move quickly from one place to another. Most of the time it’s collocated with birds that flit from branch to branch in a tree. So fleeting has that same sense of here and gone; to describe something that happens only for an instant. If you see someone in a car driving past you, you may only get a fleeting glimpse of the person. In the story, I said that Chelsea showed fleeting moments of brilliance. From time to time, they were brilliant, but only for short periods.

Star-studded

The adjective star-studded is usually used to describe a film or show with lots of celebrities. Celebrities are stars; if there are a lot of them in a film or at an event, then you can say that the film or event is star studded. I think that the word is quite interesting because a stud is the end of an old fashioned nail. Nails used to have rounded heads so if you hammered a nail into a block of wood, there would be a kind of round lump of metal sticking out of the wood. If you hammered in lots of these nails, then the wood would be covered with studs. It would be studded. And football boots, in the UK, have studs on the bottom. These are called cleats in the US. So if something is studded, usually, it is covered with studs. However figuratively, we say star-studded and less frequently celebrity-studded to describe a group of people with lots of stars or celebrities.

Against the run of play

Against the run of play is an idiom we use when a team scores a goal when the opposing team has been better. If a team has less possession and isn’t able to attack, if the ball is mostly in their own half, then they somehow score, it would be against the run of play. In the match, Brighton were dominant and looked in control. When Chelsea scored first, it was against the run of play.

Now it’s time for this week’s second story. When you listen, I’d like you to try to answer the following question:

Which Spurs player had a particularly bad day?

Fortunes change at Tottenham Hotspur

When Bournemouth arrived late at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, after getting stuck in traffic, the home side did not look impressed. And from the moment the referee started the match, there was something missing. They looked a bit like they expected to win easily and were not taking their opponents seriously.

Bournemouth have not been having a great season, but they are still a Premier League team and although it may have taken a while, Gary O’Neil has inspired his team and they have started playing with confidence and on Saturday in London, that was what made the difference.

Bournemouth were playing Spurs at home so they were always going to have to defend hard, but when they got the chance to break, they pressed high and with a freedom and confidence in their play. Through that confidence, they were able to show their quality.

And then there was luck. Last week, Spurs were lucky to win against Brighton. This week, they were unlucky. This might be unfair on Bournemouth, but Spurs’ lack of focus certainly contributed to their loss. Bournemouth earned a couple of good chances that they could have scored from, but their first goal came when the ball was fumbled by Davinson Sanchez on the edge of the area allowing Domninic Solanke to push the ball through for Matías Viña who calmly flicked it over Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal.

Things went from bad to worse for Sanchez when Tottenham were caught cold in the first few minutes of the second half. Sanchez tried to stop a Bournemouth attack and inadvertently poked the ball into the path of Solanke, putting in on a plate for Bournemouth’s number 9.

When Danjuma equalised in the 88th minute, it looked like Bournemouth would have to settle for a point. Spurs looked firmly in control and the visitors looked like they were holding on to settle for a draw.

And then, in the last minute of the match, Spurs were attacking hard, leaving themselves exposed at the back. Solanke controlled a long ball and crossed to Dango Ouattara who had enough space to settle, switch the ball to his right foot and power it home.

Final score: Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 3 AFC Bournemouth

Before the story, I asked you:

Which Spurs player had a particularly bad day?

The answer is: Davinson Sanchez. The 26 year old Colombian had a really bad afternoon. He was onlyu on the pitch for 13 minutes but made mistakes that led to two Bournemouth goals.

The phrases from the story that I want to talk about are:

• To make the difference
• To go from bad to worse
• To put something on a plate for someone

To make the difference

We use the idiom to make the difference to say that something is the cause of a result or that it had a big impact. So if you have a really bad cold and you’re feeling terrible, you might take some medicine and eat some fruit and go to bed early. The next day, if you are feeling better, you might say going to bed early was what made the difference, meaning that was the thing that most helped you feel better. We also use the phrase in negative sentences to say that something won’t have any impact. You might hear someone say: I tried talking to him, but I don’t think it will make any difference. In the story, I said that Bournemouth’s confidence was what made the difference, meaning their confidence was the biggest cause of their brilliant performance.

To go from bad to worse

We use this idiom to say that a bad situation is becoming even more bad, even worse. We almost always say things have gone from bad to worse rather than talking about specific situations, but you’ll find slightly different forms of the idiom. It’s a bit like the idiom: Out of the frying pan and into the fire which we use to say that a person has escaped a bad situation only to find themself in an even worse situation.

To put something on a plate for someone

I’m talking about a lot of idioms today. This idiom is normally to give or hand something to someone on a plate. It means to make something really easy for someone. It’s like they are sitting at a table in a restaurant and something is presented to them. Instead of working for something, it’s just given to them, as if by a waiter in a restaurant. I think that people often use this idiom to talk about the children of really wealthy people who never have to work for anything. Everything is just handed to them on a plate. When Sanchez tried to clear the ball and accidentally tapped it straight to Solanke, he put the ball on a plate for him. He gave Solanke the ball and a scoring opportunity.

Now it’s time for this week’s third story. When you listen, I’d like you to try to answer the following question:

Who failed to take advantage of an opportunity to score for Arsenal?

Arsenal drops the ball

A week after letting Liverpool back into a game they should have won, Arsenal took the trip across London to take on West Ham.

The league leaders started the game full of hope and confidence and had a perfect opening, scoring twice in the first 10 minutes. The Gunners were dominant. In fact, throughout the match they enjoyed almost 70% possession, but something happened.

Last week, there was a scuffle that encouraged the Liverpool fans. This time, it was a handball. Declan Rice controlled the ball with his arm, OK ... As an Arsenal fan, I am always going to see it this way, but it might not have been a handball, Declan Rice might have used magic. Anyhow, while Partey was appealing, Rice ran into the area, knocking the ball to Lucas Paqueta who won a penalty, giving West Ham a way back into the match.

In the second half, things went from bad to worse for the gunners. When Martinelli’s shot was blocked by the outstretched arm of Michail Antonio, Arsenal were awarded a penalty and the chance to restore their two goal cushion. Unfortunately, Saka hit the ball wide and West Ham were let off.

Energised by the missed penalty, West Ham surged forwards. Thilo Kehrer fired a great ball over the top of the Arsenal defence to Jarod Bowen who caught the ball well and powered it into the ground so it bounced into the goal.

For the second week in a row, Arsenal have thrown away a two goal lead and seen their lead at the top of the table reduced.

Final score: West Ham United 2 - 2 Arsenal

Before the story, I asked you:

Who failed to take advantage of an opportunity to score for Arsenal?

The answer is: Bukayo Saka who missed a crucial penalty. He’ll be feeling that one for a while.

The phrases and word from the story that I want to talk about are:

• To drop the ball
• A scuffle
• To surge forwards

To drop the ball

To drop the ball means to make a mistake, usually because you weren’t being careful or paying attention. The idiom comes from American sports. In American football and baseball, you have to hold or catch the ball and if you drop the ball it is a mistake. The person holding the ball has a responsibility. They have to look after the ball. So the figurative use means to make a mistake with something that you are supposed to be looking after. Often, because you are distracted or didn’t realise there was a problem.

A scuffle

A scuffle is a little fight. It’s a physical fight with pushing and often with hitting, but it’s usually a short fight between just two people, or at least a small number of people. If there’s a big protest, you might hear that there were a few scuffles, but otherwise the protest was peaceful.

To surge forwards

A surge is a sudden increase. I think the noun form is most commonly used to talk about electricity if the electrical power suddenly increases. If you have an unstable electricity supply you can get a special pieve of equipment to protect your computer from surges of electricity called a surge protector. We also use the noun to describe a sudden movement of people. If a lot of people moved towards a goal at once, you can say that there was surge towards the goal. The verb form means the same thing. It is mostly used to describe a group of people if they all move forwards at once. If a football team all attacks at once, you can say that the team surges forwards.

OK, that's 9 phrases and words from the stories today. They were:

• Fleeting moments of brilliance
• Star-studded
• Against the run of play
• To make the difference
• To go from bad to worse
• To put something on a plate for someone
• To drop the ball
• A scuffle
• To surge forwards

Listen to the stories one more time to hear the language in context.

Enciso seals Brighton comeback

When Frank Lampard was asked about Chelsea’s performance against Brighton on Saturday, he was not happy. And apart from fleeting moments of brilliance from his star-studded team, Chelsea’s performance on the pitch did not really give him or the fans many reasons to be happy.

On the other hand, Brighton were brilliant. They have been playing with so much confidence and have been a joy to watch.

Totally against the run of play, Chelsea scored first. Conor Gallagher put the home side ahead after 13 minutes, but his shot took a huge deflection and looped out over the goalkeeper.

Conceding a goal didn’t seem to have any impact on Brighton. They just kept pushing hard, fearlessly committing players on the attack so that the home team was often overloaded in their own area. After several near misses and blocked shots, Danny Welbeck eventually equalised with a header.

The winning goal came in the second half from the confident boot of Brighton’s 19-year-old Paraguayan forward Julio Enciso. When the youngster found himself in space 25 yards out, he had time to steady himself before thundering home a stunner.

Mykhailo Mudryk made a bold run and strike in the closing minutes of the match, reminding the fans what he can do. But when the final whistle was blown, the blues were deservedly beaten by Brighton.

Final score: Chelsea 1 - 2 Brighton & Hove Albion

Fortunes change at Tottenham Hotspur

When Bournemouth arrived late at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, after getting stuck in traffic, the home side did not look impressed. And from the moment the referee started the match, there was something missing. They looked a bit like they expected to win easily and were not taking their opponents seriously.

Bournemouth have not been having a great season, but they are still a Premier League team and although it may have taken a while, Gary O’Neil has inspired his team and they have started playing with confidence and on Saturday in London, that was what made the difference.

Bournemouth were playing Spurs at home so they were always going to have to defend hard, but when they got the chance to break, they pressed high and with a freedom and confidence in their play. Through that confidence, they were able to show their quality.

And then there was luck. Last week, Spurs were lucky to win against Brighton. This week, they were unlucky. This might be unfair on Bournemouth, but Spurs’ lack of focus certainly contributed to their loss. Bournemouth earned a couple of good chances that they could have scored from, but their first goal came when the ball was fumbled by Davinson Sanchez on the edge of the area allowing Domninic Solanke to push the ball through for Matías Viña who calmly flicked it over Hugo Lloris in the Spurs goal.

Things went from bad to worse for Sanchez when Tottenham were caught cold in the first few minutes of the second half. Sanchez tried to stop a Bournemouth attack and inadvertently poked the ball into the path of Solanke, putting in on a plate for Bournemouth’s number 9.

When Danjuma equalised in the 88th minute, it looked like Bournemouth would have to settle for a point. Spurs looked firmly in control and the visitors looked like they were holding on to settle for a draw.

And then, in the last minute of the match, Spurs were attacking hard, leaving themselves exposed at the back. Solanke controlled a long ball and crossed to Dango Ouattara who had enough space to settle, switch the ball to his right foot and power it home.

Final score: Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 3 AFC Bournemouth

Arsenal drops the ball

A week after letting Liverpool back into a game they should have won, Arsenal took the trip across London to take on West Ham.

The league leaders started the game full of hope and confidence and had a perfect opening, scoring twice in the first 10 minutes. The Gunners were dominant. In fact, throughout the match they enjoyed almost 70% possession, but something happened.

Last week, there was a scuffle that encouraged the Liverpool fans. This time, it was a handball. Declan Rice controlled the ball with his arm, OK ... As an Arsenal fan, I am always going to see it this way, but it might not have been a handball, Declan Rice might have used magic. Anyhow, while Partey was appealing, Rice ran into the area, knocking the ball to Lucas Paqueta who won a penalty, giving West Ham a way back into the match.

In the second half, things went from bad to worse for the gunners. When Martinelli’s shot was blocked by the outstretched arm of Michail Antonio, Arsenal were awarded a penalty and the chance to restore their two goal cushion. Unfortunately, Saka hit the ball wide and West Ham were let off.

Energised by the missed penalty, West Ham surged forwards. Thilo Kehrer fired a great ball over the top of the Arsenal defence to Jarod Bowen who caught the ball well and powered it into the ground so it bounced into the goal.

For the second week in a row, Arsenal have thrown away a two goal lead and seen their lead at the top of the table reduced.

Final score: West Ham United 2 - 2 Arsenal

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again.

Language challenge

Your challenge this week is to complete the gaps in the following sentences with the correct forms of the words and phrases that I’ve spoken about in this podcast. I have taken all of these sentences from news websites and edited them slightly.

Number 1. Pharmacists say supplies of key antibiotics to treat common infections have ______________________ in the past week.

Number 2. Max Verstappen has proven again, how worthy he is of the World Championship, though a lot of it is thanks to Ferrari in so many ways. The car has been so good and the team has been so competitive, and they handed it to him __________.

Number 3. Alan Shearer says David Moyes' multiple changes to his West Ham United defensive line _______________ in the 1-0 win against Fulham.

Number 4. NASA's Webb telescope captured the _______________ of a dying star before it went supernova.

Number 5. A Nottinghamshire MP has been involved in a ___________ with a prominent anti-Brexit activist in Westminster.

Number 6. Danny Ings put the Hammers ahead _________________ just before half-time with the first European goal of his career.

Number 7. Political editor Beth Rigby asked the prime minister about his criticisms of the national curriculum and if previous governments had ___________.

Number 8. Prince Archie is set to have a ________________ 4th birthday celebration as mum Meghan Markle stays home to plan the party.

Number 9. A car enthusiast is recovering from serious leg injuries after a Porsche ______________ and pinned him against a barrier in a freak accident at an auction.

Leave your answers to the language challenge in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Task

Your task this week is to complete the following sentence.

The best thing to do after your team has lost an important match is ...

The best thing to do after your team has lost an important match is ...

Can you also tell me about a time when your team lost an important match? What did you do? How long did it take you to get over the disappointment?

Share your ideas in the comments section on the page for this podcast on Premier Skills English.

Football phrase

Now it’s time for this week's football phrase.

The football phrase this week is a **** *****. This is a really tough bit of football English. I think it’s probably the most advanced item of football English that I have ever challenged you with so I don’t think many of you will be able to work it out. So this is a tactic that involves players putting pressure on their opponents well into their opponents half. If a team plays with a **** *****, they try to overload the midfield and try to win back the ball by forcing their opponents to pass to a player who is weaker. When it’s done well, it can be very successful.

If you know the answer, be sure to leave it in a comment on the page for this podcast on Premier Skills English.

Before I finish, I am going to go through the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1. France braced on Monday for another day of mass protests as tensions mount ahead of a new pension strike.

Number 2. Property values nationally fell further in January, quashing hopes of a recovery in the property market.

Number 3. England were in fine form as they breezed past an uninspired Iran side at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar.

Number 4. The annual Tulip Festival promises to be the most spectacular yet according to assistant estate manager Peter Rogers.

Number 5. I'm really disappointed that I didn't get the job because I thought I was the best candidate, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Number 6. Manchester United have provided an update on Marcus Rashford’s injury timeline heading into the business end of the season.

Number 7. It’s hard to face the press when you’re a manager and your team is not playing well, but the Italian tactician lost his cool in front of the media more frequently than other managers.

Number 8. Bayern Munich forwards Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane were involved in an altercation in the dressing room following their Champions League quarter-final defeat at Manchester City on Tuesday night.

Number 9. While the veteran batsmen were at the crease, the defending champions looked in control and the nerves were showing among the fielders.

And that’s all I have time for today. Before I finish, I just wanted to say that I hope you found this podcast useful, and I hope all of you stay fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.