This Week: Manchester City are Champions

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.

There are ten phrases to look at this week. They are: in the bag, out the window, to keep an eye on, to make a move, from bad to worse, to slip away, to kick in, my heart sank, to be philosophical about something, and to inflict a wound.

Listen out for these phrases in the headlines and stories. Well, actually, there is only one story this week and you all know it.

After the story, there will be a language focus on the 10 phrases. Then, there will be a language challenge for you to complete and then at the end of the podcast there will be a new football phrase.

But before that, I want to look at last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week, here’s one more chance to guess now.

The phrase was to ***** **. This is what fans do when they support their team at the stadium. If you’re watching the match on TV, you might do the first part of this phrase, you might ***** for your team, especially if they score a goal, but if you get to support them on the pitch, from the stands of your ground then you can ***** them ** to encourage them to run faster and play better.

It was a little tricky last week and quite a few people got the wrong preposition, but that’s so close that I want to congratulate everyone who got it right and who nearly got it right.

Congratulations to Hayato from Japan, Isshin from Japan, Kwesimanifest from Ghana, HSN from Turkey, Goku from Japan, Daniel_06 from Mexico, Mobeckham from Turkey, Wilson_2103 from Colombia, Taha Gashout from Libya, Karo Barrios from Colombia, Ademponeb from Taiwan and Adicon from Germany.
You all worked out that the phrase I was looking for was cheer on.

Now it’s time for this week’s football story.

Manchester City win the Premier League Title

Manchester City have won the Premier League title for the sixth time in a dramatic comeback win at the Etihad on Sunday.

When Manchester City hosted Aston Villa on the final day of the season, they had to win. Liverpool were only trailing City by one point and were playing their final match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Both teams expected to win; three points a piece and it’s in the bag for City. Manchester City fans must have had very high hopes of winning the title, but Villa were determined to not make it easy for City.

At four o’clock on Sunday, the two matches that would decide the title kicked off. At Anfield, Liverpool fans were watching the Reds play Wolves and keeping an eye on their smartphones to see how City were doing 35 miles away at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. City fans in Manchester were doing the same thing; watching Man City take on Villa at home while keeping an eye on their smartphones to see how Liverpool were doing.

After three minutes Pedro Neto made the first move when he found the net for Wolves. Liverpool were a goal down. When this news broke in Manchester, the supporters relaxed a little. But not for long. 24 minutes in, Sadio Mane equalised at Anfield and any hope that Liverpoool were going to lose their heads were out the window.

And then, a disaster for City. After 37 minutes Villa struck. Matthew Cash scored with a header from a cross from Lucas Digne.

At half-time, Liverpool were drawing and City were a goal down. Neither team had played their best, Wolves and Villa were making life difficult.

When play restarted, things went from bad to worse. Neither City nor Liverpool looked like the teams that had dominated in nearly every match they’d played in the season. And then, after 69 minutes, Philippe Coutinho scored another for Villa and the title was slipping away. In Anfield, the pressure started building. Surely they could score again. One goal was all it was going to take.

And then, from the depths of this disaster, the champions' resilience kicked in. With 14 minutes left on the clock, Ilkay Gündogan found the back of the net with a powerful header from a Sterling cross. Two minutes later, Rodri scored the equaliser from outside the box. And then Gundogan scored again with an almost point blank shot into the centre of the goal.
In five short minutes, the title was back within reach.

As the news spread at Anfield, hearts sank. Liverpool had never been ahead, but the possibility had been real and then City scored ... and scored again ... and scored again .. three goals in five minutes.

Perhaps some Liverpool fans may have been philosophical about this turn of events as they have inflicted similar wounds in their history. Whatever they were feeling, the players seemed to relax a little and looked more like themselves as Joel Matip set up Mohamed Salah to tap in his 23rd goal of the season. And then, five minutes later Andrew Robertson scored with a left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box.

After 90 minutes and 4 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle at Anfield. Liverpool beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 and finished their campaign with 92 points, which would have won them the title every season between 2005/2006 and 2016/2017.

One minute later, the final whistle rang out at the Etihad Stadium and Manchester City had beaten Aston Villa 3-2 and earned 93 points in their campaign which won them their sixth Premier League title.

Language focus

The phrases I want to talk about from this story are: in the bag, out the window, to keep an eye on, to make a move, to go from bad to worse, to slip away , to kick in, my heart sank, to be philosophical about something and to inflict a wound.

If something is in the bag, it is certain, you have already done or achieved it. If you are packing to go on holiday and your partner asks ‘have you packed the sun cream’. If you say, don’t worry, it’s in the bag, you have already packed it. The suncream is safe and there’s no chance you’ll forget it. You can use in the bag in other situations as well, there doesn’t have to be a real bag. The origin of the phrase is from baseball when the New York Giants sent the ball bag back to the clubhouse when they thought they had won the game. If the bag was carried off the field, then victory was said to be in the bag.

If something is out the window, it means something that was possible is no longer possible or something has gone forever as if it has been thrown out of a window. As well as saying that something is out the window, you may hear that something has gone out the window.

To keep an eye on something means to watch something closely. It’s quite informal so you will come across it more in spoken English. You might ask someone to keep an eye on your bag when you go to the bathroom on a train, for example. It’s similar to ‘have your eye on something’ which normally means you are watching something. Don’t try anything, I have my eye on you. It can also mean you are thinking of buying something. I have my eye on a new computer means I’m thinking of buying a new computer.

To make a move comes from Chess, I think. In the game of chess, each player takes turns to make moves. Each player’s go is a move. It has come to mean a decisive act that’s often part of a strategy. Politicians might talk about waiting for their opponents to make a move so they can see what their opponents are trying to do. In football, when a team tries to execute a tactic, that is they try to do what they have planned and practised, this could be described as a move. Individual crosses and passes could also be described as moves, especially if they are part of a series of actions that leads to a goal.

The phrase to go from bad to worse is used to describe negative situations that become more negative. It’s similar to the idiom out of the frying pan and into the fire. When a team is losing, things are bad. If then, they concede another goal, they are worse so things went from bad to worse.

To slip away means to leave quietly. Often, we use this to say that someone leaves a meeting or a party without saying goodbye or letting other people know that they are leaving. We can also use slip away with time, to talk about the way time passes in phrases like, the night slipped away. We can also use it to describe abilities and possibilities if they weaken and dwindle, that is reduce bit by bit. So if the possibility that a team will win slips away, the possibility reduces, the win becomes less and less likely.

To kick in means to start working or come into effect. So if you have a power cut, if the electricity to your building is cut off and your lights go out and you have a backup generator, it might take a minute for the generator to start and for the lights to come back on. It might take a while for the generators to kick in. We often use it to talk about medication. If you have a headache and need to take some painkillers, it might take a little while for the painkillers to kick in, to have an effect. We also use it for changes in the law to say when the new laws have legal force, when the laws kick in and for financial changes, perhaps new tax rates might kick in.

If you become sad and disappointed about something, especially if it is about something you were previously happy and excited about, you can say that your heart sank. You can often see this in people’s expressions, especially in children. When I was a kid, I loved chocolate, especially chocolate cake. If someone offered me a big slice of cake, I would have been so excited. Now, if this offer was a joke (this actually happened to me when I was about 9-years-old and I will never forget the disappointment and hurt at being tricked), if this was a joke and the offer of cake was taken away, you would have seen my face change from happy and excited to sad and disappointed very quickly - you would have seen my heart sink.

This next phrase is a little complicated. To be philosophical about something means to be calm and logical, not very emotional, when something bad happens. Philosophy is the study of knowledge, of how we know what we know. It can be quite dry and not very emotional. If you approach a problem philosophically, you use reason, rationality and some scepticism to try to solve the problem. Last week, somebody crashed into my car and wrote it off, that is, it was completely destroyed beyond repair. Now, the car was in front of my house and nobody was hurt so I tried to be philosophical about it and not get upset.

The last phrase I want to talk about is to inflict a wound. The verb to inflict means to make someone experience something unpleasant, usually some kind of pain. Sadly, this verb is too common in the news these days as people suffer the consequences of war and violent attacks. You can talk about the suffering inflicted on children or the power of weapons to inflict injuries. A wound is an injury, it is damage to a person’s body, usually caused by a weapon. When there has been a tragedy, an accident, a disaster or an attack of some kind, the newspapers will report on the numbers of dead and wounded or injured. One more use of the verb to inflict is in the phrase a self-inflicted wound. If you hurt yourself, by accident or on purpose, your injury could be described as self-inflicted.

OK. There you have ten phrases from the story. The phrases from the story were: in the bag, out the window, keep an eye on, to make a move, from bad to worse, to slip away, to kick in, my heart sank, to be philosophical about something, and to inflict a wound.

Listen to the story one more time to hear these phrases in context.

Manchester City win the Premier League Title

Manchester City have won the Premier League title for the sixth time in a dramatic comeback win at the Etihad on Sunday.

When Manchester City hosted Aston Villa on the final day of the season, they had to win. Liverpool were only trailing City by one point and were playing their final match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Both teams expected to win; three points a piece and it’s in the bag for City. Manchester City fans must have had very high hopes of winning the title, but Villa were determined to not make it easy for City.

At four o’clock on Sunday, the two matches that would decide the title kicked off. At Anfield, Liverpool fans were watching the Reds play Wolves and keeping an eye on their smartphones to see how City were doing 35 miles away at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. City fans in Manchester were doing the same thing; watching Man City take on Villa at home while keeping an eye on their smartphones to see how Liverpool were doing.

After three minutes Pedro Neto made the first move when he found the net for Wolves. Liverpool were a goal down. When this news broke in Manchester, the supporters relaxed a little. But not for long. 24 minutes in, Sadio Mane equalised at Anfield and any hope that Liverpoool were going to lose their heads were out the window.

And then, a disaster for City. After 37 minutes Villa struck. Matthew Cash scored with a header from a cross from Lucas Digne.

At half-time, Liverpool were drawing and City were a goal down. Neither team had played their best, Wolves and Villa were making life difficult.

When play restarted, things went from bad to worse. Neither City nor Liverpool looked like the teams that had dominated in nearly every match they’d played in the season. And then, after 69 minutes, Philippe Coutinho scored another for Villa and the title was slipping away. In Anfield, the pressure started building. Surely they could score again. One goal was all it was going to take.

And then, from the depths of this disaster, the champions' resilience kicked in. With 14 minutes left on the clock, Ilkay Gündogan found the back of the net with a powerful header from a Sterling cross. Two minutes later, Rodri scored the equaliser from outside the box. And then Gundogan scored again with an almost point blank shot into the centre of the goal.
In five short minutes, the title was back within reach.

As the news spread at Anfield, hearts sank. Liverpool had never been ahead, but the possibility had been real and then City scored ... and scored again ... and scored again .. three goals in five minutes.

Perhaps some Liverpool fans may have been philosophical about this turn of events as they have inflicted similar wounds in their history. Whatever they were feeling, the players seemed to relax a little and looked more like themselves as Joel Matip set up Mohamed Salah to tap in his 23rd goal of the season. And then, five minutes later Andrew Robertson scored with a left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box.

After 90 minutes and 4 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the final whistle at Anfield. Liverpool beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 and finished their campaign with 92 points, which would have won them the title every season between 2005/2006 and 2016/2017.

One minute later, the final whistle rang out at the Etihad Stadium and Manchester City had beaten Aston Villa 3-2 and earned 93 points in their campaign which won them their sixth Premier League title.

Language Challenge

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

Here are ten sentences with gaps in them and you have to complete the gaps with the phrases from this podcast.

Number 1. I need you to ____ __ ___ __ their new number 7. I’ve heard she’s really fast so don’t get caught out.

Number 2. I know it’s cold. I’ve put the heating on, but it’s going to take a while to ____ __.

Number 3. The fasn were so happy, you’d think the result was __ ___ ___.

Number 4. Any plans the team had of recruiting a new striker were ___ ___ ______ when the club’s financial report was released.

Number 5. The director is in trouble so now is probably a good time to ____ _ ____ if you are going to.

Number 6. These little bugs look harmless, but they are capable of _________ a painful sting.

Number 7. My hopes of a holiday began to ____ ____ when the cost of flights started going up.

Number 8. I thought we had a chance, but when I saw who we were playing my _____ ____.

Number 9. The club’s season went ____ ___ __ _____ when their star striker was injured.

Number 10. We are facing difficult times, but I’m trying to be ____________ _____ it.

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

Football phrase

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

I’ve selected another easy word this week from the Premier Vocabulary section, though it’s a bit harder than last week, I think.

The word is ********. This word can be used to describe the person or team that has beaten all of their rivals to win a sporting event. Manchester city are the Premier League ********* this season. If you win once, you are a winner, but if you win more than anyone else, you are the ********.

Let me know what you think the answer is in the comments section.

Last week's language challenge

Before we finish, here are the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1. The manager didn’t want to bench the young striker, but he had to be ruthless if he wanted the team to win.

Number 2. The politician knew that he’d have to rely on popular appeal to get the job done.

Number 3. Those glasses make you look so much older ... in a good way.

Number 4. She lost her job, then her car was stolen and then her boyfriend left her. She just can’t catch a break.

Number 5. At the final whistle, the crowd broke through the barrier and streamed onto the pitch.

Number 6. It was a hard match, but the visitors managed to clinch victory in the final minute with a long-range strike.

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.