This Week: To lead from the front

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 premierskillsenglish.britishcouncil.org 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.

In today’s podcast, I am going to talk about Spurs’ trip to Burnley, Brentford hosting Bournemouth and Arsenal welcoming Manchester United.

The phrases I am going to talk about are:

• To lead from the front
• To seal the deal
• A consolation goal
• To go all out for something
• The closing minutes of the game
• To light a fire under someone
• To steal the win
• The icing on the cake

Listen out for this vocabulary in the headlines and stories.

After each story there will be a short language focus and 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.

Last week’s football phrase was the verb to ******. This verb means to run as fast as you can. In athletics, the 100m is considered a ******. Footballers run a long way during a match, but from time to time, they really have to run as fast as they can to get to a ball. When they have to run that fast, they ****** to get the ball.

Congratulations to AndreTorre102 from Brazil, Denis2000 from Belarus, Alex from Ukraine, KareemZain from Egypt, Hasan from Turkey. Congratulations and welcome to Elchueco from Argentina - I had to look up how to pronounce that and I do hope you’re not the Mexican gangster. Congratulations and welcome also to Badger from Poland and congratulations to Vinicius77 from Brazil.

You all managed to work out that the phrase I was looking for was the verb to sprint.

Keep listening till the end of the podcast for a new football phrase.

Now it’s time for the first story.

Son leads from the front

Son Heung-min led from the front at Turf Moor on Saturday. The South Korean captain scored his fifth hattrick in a spurs shirt and sealed the deal for his team.

Burnley started strong and held their ground in the midfield but lacked quality at both ends, failing to hit the target when attacking and leaving too many gaps for their opponents when defending.

Burnley started well and scored first. Son equalised 12 minutes later and for the rest of the first half the game was wide open. Right at the end of the first half, Cristian Romero put Spurs ahead. The visitors were awarded a corner which was blocked and then the ball bounced like a pinball between attackers and defenders until it fell for Romero who scored with a powerful strike.

In the second half, it looked like the home side were stunned after Maddison scored a beauty and Son got two more.

Josh Brownhill got a consolation goal in added time, but it was too little too late.

Final score: Burnley 2 - 5 Tottenham Hotspur

The phrases I want to talk about from this story are:

• To lead from the front
• To seal the deal
• A consolation goal

To lead from the front

To lead from the front means to control a group of people, to be a leader, but by example, by doing the things that you want the people you lead to do. This is often described as a good way to be a leader. I think it comes from the military and battles where there is a front line. The front line is the soldiers who first contact and start fighting with the enemy. It is the boundary of the area that is being defended for the defenders. If a general or other military leader, leads from the front, they direct and control their troops by leading the actual fighting. Instead of saying safe at the back, they put themselves in the action and take the same risks that they ask their soldiers to take. Son Heung-min is Spurs captain so when he scored the equaliser, he was leading his team by example. He was leading from the front.

To seal the deal

To seal the deal is an expression I’ve spoken about before. It’s quite common in football commentary. If someone does something that seals the deal, it makes an arrangement certain. So in business, if two companies are negotiating and one company makes a generous offer, that might be the move that convinces everybody to sign., That offer sealed the deal. In football, we use the expression when a goal is scored that makes the result certain. So if a team is one-nil down, they might easily equalise. If they are two-nil down, they might make a comeback, but it’s going to be a challenge. If the team scores again and if it’s towards the end of the match, that third goal could be said to seal the deal as there’s almost no way that their opponents are going to be able to come back from three nil down.

A consolation goal

This is another piece of language that I’ve spoken about before. The verb to console means to say something to try to make somebody feel better. So if your friend is sad, perhaps they have broken up with their partner, you might go and see them to try to make them feel better, you might try to console them. The noun consolation, means something that makes you feel better when you are sad. So Burnley fans were probably feeling pretty bad when the score was 5-1. The late goal may have made them feel a bit better. It was a consolation goal. It was never going to affect the result, but the team and fans could go home feeling a bit better.

Let’s move on to the next story.

Brentford and Bournemouth go all out

Brentford hosted Bournemouth in one of the most exciting meetings of the week, with both clubs going all out for a win. Both teams want to play fast paced attacking football with a high press which made their match exciting as the players all gave it all they could. It was exhausting just watching it, so I can’t imagine how tired the players must have felt at the final whistle.

In my opinion, Bournemouth were lucky to come away with a point. On the whole, Brentford played really well and were unlucky not to have scored more.

The Bees’ first goal came from a free kick given just outside the area. Bournemouth’s keeper Neto made a mistake and when he went to try to clear the ball, he was a split second behind Kevin Schade and found the back of Schade’s leg instead of the ball. He almost saved the free kick. He clawed the shot out of the goal, but on review, the ball had clearly crossed the goal line.

Bournemouth equalised off the boot of Dominic Solanke and in the second half, David Brooks gave the home side the lead.

In the meantime, Brentford never stopped attacking. Kevin Schade hit the post in the first half, then Mbeumo missed from close range after being set up perfectly. Wissa hit the post and then Lewis Potter hit the post from a tap in.

It wasn’t until the closing minutes of the game when Mbeumo received the ball and turned beautifully. He ran straight at the goal and powered the ball low and past the keeper.

Final score: Brentford 2 - 2 AFC Bournemouth

The phrases I want to talk about from this story are:

• To go all out for something
• The closing minutes of the game

To go all out for something

If you go all out for something, you put all you effort, energy and enthusiasm into what you are doing to try to accomplish something. So if it’s your friend’s birthday and you want to make it special for them, you might organise a surprise party. That would be a nice thing to do. However, if you invite all their best friends, organise their favourite food, buy them an amazing present, organise a live band to play their favourite music, decorate the party venue so it looks amazing .... if you do all that, people might say: “Wow! You really went all out.” This weekend, I heard a pundit reflect on the match and say both teams went all out for a win, meaning they really did everything they could.

The closing minutes of the game

The closing minutes of a game are the last few minutes. When there are only a few minutes left, you can say that you’re in the closing minutes. So anything that happens in the last few minutes happens in the closing minutes. We talk about closing remarks which are often made at the end of a speech or by the chairperson at the end of a meeting. I did a quick search and the phrase the closing minutes is almost always used to talk about actions that happen in the last few minutes of a sporting event.

Let’s move on to the final story.

Jesus puts the icing on the cake

For the first 27 minutes of the match between Arsenal and Manchester United, the London hosts looked calm and in control. The fans did not look worried, but they didn’t look all that excited either. And then Christian Eriksen played a perfectly weighted through ball for Rashford who ran at the goal, sidestepped two defenders and scored with a powerful drive that the keeper only managed to get a finger to.

This lit a fire under the Gunners who responded with a beautiful team effort just 35 seconds later. The home side attacked together and the ball passed from the midfield and into United’s area before Martinelli cut it back for Martin Ødegaard who equalised.

For much of the rest of the game, the most exciting moments were overturned following a VAR review. Kai Havertz thought he’d won a penalty after some contact in the penalty area, but VAR said it wasn’t enough. And then in the 87th minute, Alejandro Garnacho was convinced he’d stolen the win for United only for VAR to overturn the decision when it revealed that the Spanish substitute had been just offside.

The game was finally won and then put to bed by two late Arsenal goals. First Declan Rice scored, having received the ball at the back post from a corner. It was a little bit lucky as the ball took a deflection off a United player. And then Gabriel Jesus put the icing on the cake with a brilliant solo effort.

Final score: Arsenal 3 - 1 Manchester United

The phrases I want to talk about from this story are:

• To light a fire under someone
• To steal the win
• The icing on the cake

To light a fire under someone

When I looked this up, I saw that it is mostly a US expression. I guess I watch too much American TV. If you light a fire under someone, you make them work more quickly and more effectively. So if you have a colleague at work who is a bit ... lazy ... if you tell them that the boss has been watching them, that might cause them to work harder and more efficiently. It might light a fire under them.
When Rashford scored at Arsenal, it made the gunners focus and work harder and they suddenly started playing better. It lit a fire under them.

To steal the win

I said that Garnacho was convinced he’d stolen the win. This is an interesting phrase. The verb to steal means to take something that doesn’t belong to you. Normally, when we talk about stealing, we are talking about a crime. So how can a footballer steal a win? Well, I said this because in my opinion, ManU didn’t deserve to win. Often, when two teams have been level all match, we say that the draw is well-deserved. If two teams have played hard, but neither team has looked much more dangerous, then a draw seems like it’s the right score. If under these circumstances, a player scores a late goal, we can say that they have stolen the win for their team. It doesn’t just mean a late goal. It’s only stealing a win if the teams have been playing equally well or if their opponents have actually been playing better. So I think that Arsenal were actually playing better and deserved to win. If Garnacho had won the match for ManU, it would have felt like the win had been stolen. I’m pretty sure a ManU fan would say that VAR stole the win from ManU.

The icing on the cake

I’m talking about a lot of old favourites today. The icing on the cake means something nice that happens or that someone receives on top of other nice things. So cake is nice. The icing is a lovely sweet treat on top of an already lovely thing. In sports, it’s a bit like the opposite of a consolation goal. A consolation goal makes the losing side feel better but doesn’t affect the final result. The icing on the cake makes the winning side feel even better, and also doesn’t affect the result. When Jesus scored in the final minute of the match, Arsenal were already ahead so the goal was not going to affect the outcome, but it still made all the players and fans happy.

Today, I’ve spoken about 8 useful phrases. The language I have spoken about is:

• To lead from the front
• To seal the deal
• A consolation goal
• To go all out for something
• The closing minutes of the game
• To light a fire under someone
• To steal the win
• The icing on the cake

Listen to the stories once more to hear the language in context.

Son leads from the front

Son Heung-min led from the front at Turf Moor on Saturday. The South Korean captain scored his fifth hattrick in a spurs shirt and sealed the deal for his team.

Burnley started strong and held their ground in the midfield but lacked quality at both ends, failing to hit the target when attacking and leaving too many gaps for their opponents when defending.

Burnley started well and scored first. Son equalised 12 minutes later and for the rest of the first half the game was wide open. Right at the end of the first half, Cristian Romero put Spurs ahead. The visitors were awarded a corner which was blocked and then the ball bounced like a pinball between attackers and defenders until it fell for Romero who scored with a powerful strike.

In the second half, it looked like the home side were stunned after Maddison scored a beauty and Son got two more.

Josh Brownhill got a consolation goal in added time, but it was too little too late.

Final score: Burnley 2 - 5 Tottenham Hotspur

Brentford and Bournemouth go all out

Brentford hosted Bournemouth in one of the most exciting meetings of the week, with both clubs going all out for a win. Both teams want to play fast paced attacking football with a high press which made their match exciting as the players all gave it all they could. It was exhausting just watching it, so I can’t imagine how tired the players must have felt at the final whistle.

In my opinion, Bournemouth were lucky to come away with a point. On the whole, Brentford played really well and were unlucky not to have scored more.

The Bees’ first goal came from a free kick given just outside the area. Bournemouth’s keeper Neto made a mistake and when he went to try to clear the ball, he was a split second behind Kevin Schade and found the back of Schade’s leg instead of the ball. He almost saved the free kick. He clawed the shot out of the goal, but on review, the ball had clearly crossed the goal line.

Bournemouth equalised off the boot of Dominic Solanke and in the second half, David Brooks gave the home side the lead.

In the meantime, Brentford never stopped attacking. Kevin Schade hit the post in the first half, then Mbeumo missed from close range after being set up perfectly. Wissa hit the post and then Lewis Potter hit the post from a tap in.

It wasn’t until the closing minutes of the game when Mbeumo received the ball and turned beautifully. He ran straight at the goal and powered the ball low and past the keeper.

Final score: Brentford 2 - 2 AFC Bournemouth

Jesus puts the icing on the cake

For the first 27 minutes of the match between Arsenal and Manchester United, the London hosts looked calm and in control. The fans did not look worried, but they didn’t look all that excited either. And then Christian Eriksen played a perfectly weighted through ball for Rashford who ran at the goal, sidestepped two defenders and scored with a powerful drive that the keeper only managed to get a finger to.

This lit a fire under the Gunners who responded with a beautiful team effort just 35 seconds later. The home side attacked together and the ball passed from the midfield and into United’s area before Martinelli cut it back for Martin Ødegaard who equalised.

For much of the rest of the game, the most exciting moments were overturned following a VAR review. Kai Havertz thought he’d won a penalty after some contact in the penalty area, but VAR said it wasn’t enough. And then in the 87th minute, Alejandro Garnacho was convinced he’d stolen the win for United only for VAR to overturn the decision when it revealed that the Spanish substitute had been just offside.

The game was finally won and then put to bed by two late Arsenal goals. First Declan Rice scored, having received the ball at the back post from a corner. It was a little bit lucky as the ball took a deflection off a United player. And then Gabriel Jesus put the icing on the cake with a brilliant solo effort.

Final score: Arsenal 3 - 1 Manchester United

Language Challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again. I have found examples of these phrases in news stories online and edited them slightly. I have removed today’s vocabulary so I want you to fill in the gaps with the language from the podcast.

Number 1. Junior Mondal scored what turned out to be _____________ for Whitby Town in the 3-1 loss at home to Ashton United.

Number 2. Guardiola yelled from the sidelines for Haaland to take the penalty they had been awarded in _____________.

Number 3. The introduction of ChatGPT has _____________ the shares of companies that produce microchips, the brains of artificial intelligence.

Number 4. A British Red Cross volunteer who will form part of the guard of honour during the coronation has said it will be _____________ for her own 60th birthday celebrations.

Number 5. Chief executive Alan Burrows says Aberdeen _____________ to stop Lewis Pirie leaving for Leeds United.

Number 6. Co-captain Liam McConnell _____________ as Scotland Under 20s defeated Spain.

Number 7. Angels star Shohei Ohtani was left crushed after two home runs _____________ at the end of an epic baseball game.

Number 8. Priyanka Chopra has recently spoken about the early days of her romance with her husband Nick Jonas. When asked why she fell for him, she replied it was when he first wrote a song for her. “This is what _____________,” she added.

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

Football phrase

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

This week’s football phrase is a ********* ******** ****. OK ... this is quite difficult to explain. The phrase is used to describe when a player kicks the ball to another player ... that word should be easy, but the important football-english description ********* ******** means that the player kicked the ball with exactly the right amount of power. It’s really impressive when a player spots a teammate on a run and kicks the ball so that it rolls right at the spot the running teammate needs, often splitting the defenders.

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. The authorities should stop authorising any proposal for a housing project if the developer has a poor track record, a real estate specialist suggests.

Number 2. Will Smith has tried unsuccessfully to make amends with Chris Rock after he struck him at the Oscars, according to reports.

Number 3. In Formula 1, Perez soaked up the pressure and proved his street smarts with a sensational Singapore win.

Number 4. After featuring in supporting roles, actor Sharib Hashmi found his big ticket as a lead character in Filmistaan. He says “I want to stick to acting and I want to make acting my bread and butter.”

Number 5. Real Madrid top La Liga with a flawless start in their first five matches.

Number 6. Whenever people are scared and they have a sense of losing control, that’s when conspiracy theories emerge. Anti-vaxxers capitalised on fears of coronavirus to spread misinformation.

Number 7. Defending champions Gokulam Kerala registered yet another huge victory when they steamrolled their opponents Sports Odisha 8-1 in their second Group A match of the Hero Indian Women’s League.

Number 8. Ryan Gosling stole the spotlight From Margot Robbie in ‘Barbie’ with his acting masterclass.

Number 9. On Tuesday the Cabinet signed off on an eviction ban which means landlords will not be allowed to remove tenants from their property. One landlord commented: “It’s well-intentioned but the wrong strategy.”

Number 10. While having a second chance is always good, it could also increase the pressure to perform well in both exams.

Number 11. Fans are praising NFL player Isaac Rochell after he shared a game plan for how to propose.

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.