This Week: The way the cookie crumbles

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.

This week, I’ve got three stories for you. I’m going to talk about Manchester City’s trip to St Mary’s to face Southampton, a controversial clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and a fiery affair at Anfield.

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

• To breeze past someone
• A spectacular bicycle kick
• To quash your hopes
• Tensions are mounting
• The business end of the season
• That’s the way the cookie crumbles
• To lose your cool
• The nerves are showing
• An altercation

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 an ******. This word is used to recognise that a player has made the pass that sets up the goal scorer. It’s an officially recognised achievement that’s listed on the match reports on the Premier League website. The word is also used as a verb that means help or support.

Congratulations to Denis2000 from Belarus, Bicoooz from Egypt, Hasan from Turkey, Cezario Abgrantes from Brazil, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, jjosebadillo from Mexico, Mohamed Kuna from Sudan, Watfa from Syria, Shikabala from Egypt, Renan from Brazil, Isshin and Ryohei and Goku from Japan, Erikpgd from Mexico, lovely to have you back in the comments Erik and Welcome and congratul;ations to Onkessai from Japan. You all worked out that the word I was looking for was an assist.

I loved reading your responses to the task last week. I asked you to complete the sentence:

The best thing to do before a big game is ...

I think that some of you completed the sentence about a game you were going to play and some of you thought about a game you were going to watch. At least, I hope so. Shikabala suggested studying your opponents before jumping in a cold Jacuzzi. I guess this is before playing a match. And quite a few of you suggested drinking beer which I guess you meant before watching a match.

Thanks Shikabala for the invitation to visit Egypt again. I would love to bring my kids to see Cairo, the pyramids and upper Egypt. My sons would really love it. Hopefully I’ll get the chance.

There will be a new football phrase and task for you to complete after the stories and vocabulary.

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

What was Kevin De Bruyne the fastest player in the history of the Premier League to do?

Manchester City breeze past Southampton

When Manchester City travelled to St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday, they wanted to win, but Pep Guardiola didn’t want his team to work too hard because they had Bayern Munich at home on Tuesday. However, even at a jog, City are so powerful, there was no way they weren’t going to score,

The first goal came just before halftime. Kevin De Bruyne crossed the ball in for Haaland to head in from close range. This was De Bruyne’s 100th assist making him only the fifth ever player to hit that mark and he did in the fastest ever time.

In the second half, Jack Grealish made it two with a wonderful solo effort. His first strike was blocked, but it rebounded in his direction and he struck again, this time leaving nothing for the goalkeeper.

Grealish was involved in the third goal as well. He ran deep and crossed the ball back for Haaland who scored with a spectacular bicycle kick.

Southampton did have one moment of glory when substitute Moussa Djenepo made a heroic run past and around four City players before crossing to Sekou Mara who jabbed the ball home.

Minutes later, Alvarez quashed any hopes of a comeback from the penalty spot.

Final score: Southampton 1 - 4 Manchester City

Before the story, I asked you:

What was Kevin De Bruyne the fastest player in the history of the Premier League to do?

The answer is: Kevin De Bruyne is the fastest player ever to make 100 assists.

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

• To breeze past someone
• A spectacular bicycle kick
• To quash your hopes

To breeze past someone

Normally, the word breeze means a gentle wind. A soft slow wind that feels nice on your skin on a summer's day. When we use breeze as a verb, it means to walk confidently and without any worries or embarrassment. Some dictionaries add an inconsiderate or dismissive manner, but I’ve always thought that it just meant in a confident, carefree way. If you breeze past someone, you walk past them without any care. So when City defeated Southampton at home without working too hard, they breezed past the Saints.

A spectacular bicycle kick

If something is spectacular, it is really impressive to look at. The noun spectacle means something exciting to watch. And spectacles is another word for glasses. When you use the adjective form, the main stress moves from spec to the second syllable. specTACular. And a bicycle kick is when a player leaps in the air and kicks the ball with their feet over their head. It can also be called an overhead kick or a scissors kick. I think it’s called a bicycle kick because the players legs look a bit like they are pedalling an invisible bike when they are upside down.

To quash your hopes

The verb to quash is normally used to officially reverse or cancel an earlier official decision. A criminal conviction can be quashed if a judge decides that the original decision was wrong. We also use the verb to mean to stop or put an end to something. Rumours, unofficial ideas about something that are discussed before an official announcement can be quashed when the official announcement is made. And we also say that hopes are quashed when something happens to end the hopes. So you hear this collocation quite a lot in sports journalism when a team or athlete is knocked out of a competition. Their hopes of becoming champions are quashed when they are knocked out of the competition.

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

How many goals were disallowed because of handballs?

Sparks fly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Brighton’s trip to Spurs was exciting. Tensions are mounting now we are at the business end of the season and the match was a fiery clash filled with drama and controversy.

Brighton played really well and were very unlucky to have left without any points. However, the goals they conceded were fantastic efforts. The first was from Son Heung-Min who hasn’t been having a great season. When he found himself in range, but outside the area, he hesitated for a second. His teammates leant him their confidence, roaring at him to shoot. Son looked up and then curled the ball perfectly into the top right hand corner. The goalkeeper didn’t stand a chance.

The second Spurs goal came when a sneaky Mitoma pass was anticipated by Romero who fired the ball wide to Son. Son played it forward for Hojberg who ran down the line as Kane was running in. Hojberg pulled the ball back for Kane who had all the space he needed to thump the ball home.

Apart from those goals, Spurs were not the better team.

Mitoma had a goal denied when the assistant referee called a handball. The replay revealed that the call was understandable if not obvious. Then Brighton had a Danny Wellbeck goal disallowed for handball off a deflection and on the replay, it’s not at all clear that the ball touched MacAllister’s hand. There were also two calls for penalties denied by the referee that the BBC pundits were sure should have been given.

Brighton had far more possession, way more shots, more corners and fewer fouls, but sometimes, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Final score: Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Before the story, I asked you:

How many goals were disallowed because of handballs?

The answer is: two goals were ruled out because the referee judged that a player had interfered with the ball with their arm or hand.

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

• Tensions are mounting
• The business end of the season
• That’s the way the cookie crumbles

Tensions are mounting

Tension is a feeling of nervousness before something happens. Towards the end of the football season, teams start feeling nervous as their chances of becoming the champions of European football or of relegation start to become real. The adjective mounting means gradually increasing so it is often collocated with tensions to say that people are becoming more nervous about something as an event gets nearer.

The business end of the season

I read that 'The business end of the season' is one of football's finest clichés. The business end of something means the important or serious end. So the last 10 matches of the season are when the season and the final positions are decided. These matches are often described as the business end of the season.

That’s the way the cookie crumbles

This is an idiom which means sometimes you are just unlucky. When something bad happens that you couldn’t have prevented, if you accept the situation and are calm, you might say: That’s the way the cookie crumbles. It shows that you have accepted the situation and don’t feel too bad about it.

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 inspired the Liverpool fans?

Arsenal lose their cool at Anfield

The Gunners are still leading the league, but they have still got a mountain to climb and some really tough matches that they will need to win to keep ahead of City. Sunday’s trip to Anfield was one of the tough ones.

Things looked good for the Gunners in the first half. The visitors started quickly and were rewarded after only eight minutes when Anderw Robertson slipped attempting to clear the ball and accidentally knocked it straight to Gabriel Martinelli. Martinelli didn’t hesitate to take advantage and put Arsenal ahead.

As Liverpool warmed up, they looked more threatening, but Arsenal still looked confident. When Arsenal won a free kick in their own end, Martinelli galloped up the pitch with the ball before picking out Jesus with an inch-perfect cross. Jesus made a fantastic leap and header to score, making it two nil.

And then the nerves started to show. Granit Xhaka was a bit heavy, tackling Trent Alexander-Arnold. Enraged, Alexander-Arnold pushed Xhaka from behind and the altercation that followed saw both players given a yellow card. And the crowd loved it.

Suddenly, the atmosphere had changed and Arsenal seemed to lose their focus. A good run from Curtis Jones ending in a dummy that sent his marker the wrong way let him cross to Jota who tapped on for Henderson. Henderson’s ball was going towards the goal when Jesus flew in to intercept at exactly the same time as Salah who intercepted the interception and the ball went into the net.

In the second half, Liverpool were determined and the game was open. The home side threw everything they had at Arsenal and came very close to scoring on a few occasions. So when in the 87th minute, the equaliser came, if felt inevitable. Alexander-Arnold nutmegged his marker and flicked the ball across the goal where Firmino headed home.

Final score: Liverpool 2 - 2 Arsenal

Before the story, I asked you:

Who inspired the Liverpool fans?

The answer is: Of course, the fans were inspired by the whole team, but in the story, the incident I mentioned that whipped up the crowd was when things between Granit Xhaka and Trent Alexander-Arnold got a bit heated.

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

• To lose your cool
• The nerves are showing
• An altercation

To lose your cool

If you lose your cool, you become angry, usually very suddenly. The word cool is quite hard to explain. I have tried to explain it to my students in different ways over the years, but I’ve never been sure that my explanation has really captured the meaning. The definition in the Cambridge learners’ dictionary lists two meanings. The first simply says good, stylish or fashionable and the second is calm and not emotional. These descriptions are OK, but if someone is cool, they are good and stylish and also calm, but they are also confident and seem like they don’t care what other people think about them. Fussing about stuff and worrying about what people think isn’t cool. When Arsenal were playing well, they were confident as well as calm and not emotional. When they lost their cool, they didn’t get angry, well, apart from Granit Xhaka but the team wasn’t as confident and they started making mistakes.

The nerves are showing

If a person is showing nerves, they are acting in a way that shows that they are nervous and worried about something. I think we normally use it when we know that someone should be nervous about something if they start making mistakes or acting differently. When people are going through a stressful time, they might be short tempered and argue and fight more because their nerves are showing.

An altercation

An altercation is an argument or a disagreement. I think that most of the time, it’s used to describe a fight or an argument that looks like it might turn into a fight. It sounds quite formal, almost like something a lawyer might say so the word can be used to make whatever happened sound more civilised. So if two people you work with get into a huge argument and are screaming at each other and threatening to hit each other with chairs and office furniture, later, if your boss asks you about it, you might describe it as a slight altercation to downplay the fight so your co-workers get into less trouble.

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

• To breeze past someone
• A spectacular bicycle kick
• To quash your hopes
• Tensions are mounting
• The business end of the season
• That’s the way the cookie crumbles
• To lose your cool
• The nerves are showing
• An altercation

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

Manchester City breeze past Southampton

When Manchester City travelled to St Mary’s Stadium on Saturday, they wanted to win, but Pep Guardiola didn’t want his team to work too hard because they had Bayern Munich at home on Tuesday. However, even at a jog, City are so powerful, there was no way they weren’t going to score,

The first goal came just before halftime. Kevin De Bruyne crossed the ball in for Haaland to head in from close range. This was De Bruyne’s 100th assist making him only the fifth ever player to hit that mark and he did in the fastest ever time.

In the second half, Jack Grealish made it two with a wonderful solo effort. His first strike was blocked, but it rebounded in his direction and he struck again, this time leaving nothing for the goalkeeper.

Grealish was involved in the third goal as well. He ran deep and crossed the ball back for Haaland who scored with a spectacular bicycle kick.

Southampton did have one moment of glory when substitute Moussa Djenepo made a heroic run past and around four City players before crossing to Sekou Mara who jabbed the ball home.

Minutes later, Alvarez quashed any hopes of a comeback from the penalty spot.

Final score: Southampton 1 - 4 Manchester City

Sparks fly at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Brighton’s trip to Spurs was exciting. Tensions are mounting now we are at the business end of the season and the match was a fiery clash filled with drama and controversy.

Brighton played really well and were very unlucky to have left without any points. However, the goals they conceded were fantastic efforts. The first was from Son Heung-Min who hasn’t been having a great season. When he found himself in range, but outside the area, he hesitated for a second. His teammates leant him their confidence, roaring at him to shoot. Son looked up and then curled the ball perfectly into the top right hand corner. The goalkeeper didn’t stand a chance.

The second Spurs goal came when a sneaky Mitoma pass was anticipated by Romero who fired the ball wide to Son. Son played it forward for Hojberg who ran down the line as Kane was running in. Hojberg pulled the ball back for Kane who had all the space he needed to thump the ball home.

Apart from those goals, Spurs were not the better team.

Mitoma had a goal denied when the assistant referee called a handball. The replay revealed that the call was understandable if not obvious. Then Brighton had a Danny Wellbeck goal disallowed for handball off a deflection and on the replay, it’s not at all clear that the ball touched MacAllister’s hand. There were also two calls for penalties denied by the referee that the BBC pundits were sure should have been given.

Brighton had far more possession, way more shots, more corners and fewer fouls, but sometimes, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Final score: Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Arsenal lose their cool at Anfield

The Gunners are still leading the league, but they have still got a mountain to climb and some really tough matches that they will need to win to keep ahead of City. Sunday’s trip to Anfield was one of the tough ones.

Things looked good for the Gunners in the first half. The visitors started quickly and were rewarded after only eight minutes when Anderw Robertson slipped attempting to clear the ball and accidentally knocked it straight to Gabriel Martinelli. Martinelli didn’t hesitate to take advantage and put Arsenal ahead.

As Liverpool warmed up, they looked more threatening, but Arsenal still looked confident. When Arsenal won a free kick in their own end, Martinelli galloped up the pitch with the ball before picking out Jesus with an inch-perfect cross. Jesus made a fantastic leap and header to score, making it two nil.

And then the nerves started to show. Granit Xhaka was a bit heavy, tackling Trent Alexander-Arnold. Enraged, Alexander-Arnold pushed Xhaka from behind and the altercation that followed saw both players given a yellow card. And the crowd loved it.

Suddenly, the atmosphere had changed and Arsenal seemed to lose their focus. A good run from Curtis Jones ending in a dummy that sent his marker the wrong way let him cross to Jota who tapped on for Henderson. Henderson’s ball was going towards the goal when Jesus flew in to intercept at exactly the same time as Salah who intercepted the interception and the ball went into the net.

In the second half, Liverpool were determined and the game was open. The home side threw everything they had at Arsenal and came very close to scoring on a few occasions. So when in the 87th minute, the equaliser came, if felt inevitable. Alexander-Arnold nutmegged his marker and flicked the ball across the goal where Firmino headed home.

Final score: Liverpool 2 - 2 Arsenal

Language challenge

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

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. France braced on Monday for another day of mass protests as _______________ ahead of a new pension strike.

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

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

Number 4. The annual Tulip Festival promises to be the most ___________ 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 ______________________________.

Number 6. Manchester United have provided an update on Marcus Rashford’s injury timeline heading into ______________________________.

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 _______________ in front of the media more frequently than other managers.

Number 8. Bayern Munich forwards Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane were involved in an ___________ 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 _______________ among the fielders.

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

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.

This week’s football phrase is ******. 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.

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. A popular farm has been overwhelmed by community support after almost £8,000 was raised within just days to help repair fire damage.

Number 2. It's been a sweltering few weeks in Bristol with temperatures regularly in the high-20s and with barely a sniff of rain for a month.

Number 3. At 3.30 pm on Sunday afternoon, our wonderful postie Susan appeared at our door, having waded through knee-deep snow and pulling our mail and parcels on a child’s sledge. This was a heroic effort, and went way above and beyond any duty.

Number 4. Novac Djokovic overcame an early wobble and injury worry to reach his 10th final.

Number 5. Riyad Mahrez got the better of Mohamed Salah in a showdown between African stars as Manchester City thrashed Liverpool 4-1 in the Premier League at the weekend.

Number 6. Evan Ferguson’s brilliant backheel helped inspire Brighton to win at Bournemouth.

Number 7. Chipotle has been peppered with a wave of complaints from customers because its salsa is 'too spicy'.

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.