This Week: Hopes lifted and dashed

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.

This week, I’m talking about Newcastle United’s convincing home win against Sheffield United, Burnley salvaging a draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford and Arsenal ‘s victory over Spurs in the North London Derby.

The words and phrases I am going to talk about today are:

• Hopes lifted
• Hopes dashed
• To tangle
• Spirit
• Reactions
• To intercept
• Fist
• To commit
• To dart

Listen out for this vocabulary in this week’s story.

But before I get to the story, 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, the phrase was a really easy one. I think that I’ve been too tough on you recently so this week, I’m choosing an easy word. This week, the football phrase is a word that refers to a match between two teams that play in the same city or region. You need to be a little bit careful with the pronunciation of this word as the pronunciation of the vowel sound has changed over the years and now, it looks like it should be pronounced differently.

Congratulations to AndreTorre102 from Brazil, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, Alex from Ukraine, Gapa from Korea, Ryohei from Japan, Jacob Burns from Poland, Hasan from Turkey, Isshin from Japan and Wojciech M from Poland.

You all managed to work out that the word I was looking for was derby.

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

Now, it’s time for the first story.

Blades relegated in Newcastle

Sheffield United started 10 points from safety and needed to win all of their remaining matches. Five minutes in, Sheffield fans' hopes were lifted when Anel Ahmedhozic headed in at the far post following a cleverly played corner, scoring his second Premier League goal.

However, those hopes were dashed when Alexander Isak equalised with a sensational shot. Jacob Murphy set Isak up with a beautiful through ball that took advantage of Isak’s pace who sprinted forwards to shoot.

Sheffield United kept pushing and looked like they were going to score ... from opportunities that they really should have scored from. Until Bruno Guimarães headed home from a free kick in the 54th minute and from then on, the Magpies had the upper hand.

Not long after, Anthony Gordon got his legs tangled up with a defender on his way into Sheffield’s penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. Isak scored his second with a confidently taken penalty kick.

Two more goals followed. The first was an unfortunate own goal from the boot of Ben Osborn following a scramble in the box and then Callum Wilson made it five with a confident finish.

The Blades have not had an easy season, but they are a young team and have played with spirit so I have no doubt they will be back.

Final score: Newcastle United 5 - 1 Sheffield United

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

• Hopes lifted and dashed
• To tangle
• Spirit

Hopes lifted and dashed

Your hopes are how positive or optimistic you are about something. You can describe how you feel about something, for example your team winning a match by talking about your hope of something, so you can say I have great hope of my team winning. Often, we don’t use the full phrase hope of something and just talk about our hopes. So I said Sheffield fans’ hopes were lifted when Ahmedhozic scored. This was a reduced form of their hopes of winning or hopes of a good result. If something lifts your hopes, it makes you feel more positive. And then later, their hopes were dashed when Isak equalised. So if your hopes are dashed, they are reduced and your attitude is a lot less positive. So we say things can give you hope or make you lose hope, you can have high hopes of something if you are very positive or little hope if you are not. If you are tricked into thinking you have a good chance then you were given false hope and if you are in a terrible situation and see a way out, it is a ray of hope or a glimmer of hope.

To tangle

We use the verb to tangle to talk about string or wire or hair when it’s all twisted and wound together in a messy way that makes it difficult to sort out. My son has long hair and he hates having his hair brushed because it’s always full of knots and tangles. We bought a special hairbrush that is designed to untangle hair without pulling it out and he is much happier about having his hair brushed. In the story, I spoke about Anthony Gordon whose legs got tangled up with a defender. I mean, their legs weren’t tied in knots, but they fell over each other. We also use the verb to talk about complex relationships of situations that people can’t get out of because there are too many elements that need to be untangled.

Spirit

If you have spirit, you demonstrate the following qualities. Firstly, enthusiasm. If you do something with a lot of energy and positivity, that shows spirit. Secondly, resilience. If you try and try, even if you have problems and find something difficult, that shows spirit. Thirdly, courage. If you are brave and face difficult problems even when there are risks and finally determination. If you refuse to stop or give up, even when things are difficult then you have spirit. I said that Sheffield United have played with spirit this season because they have demonstrated these qualities.

Let’s move on to the next story.

Burnley still holding on

Earlier in the season, I admitted that I quite like Burnley and I am a fan of Vincent Kompany. Back then, Opta, a football statistics company gave Burnley a 1% chance of survival in the Premier League, but since then, they have had a pretty good run. There are three teams fighting to avoid two places, Burnley, Luton and Nottingham Forest, and there are only two points between them. Burnley have Newcastle and Spurs to play and before the final match of the season when they have to face Forest so there’s a chance that this battle won’t be over till the last minute of the last match of the season.

Last Saturday, Burnley took on Manchester United at Old Trafford. Both teams had early chances and the teams looked well matched. At around the half hour mark, Manchester United raised their game and started attacking with more intensity, but couldn’t make anything of it. Burnley responded with some dangerous attacks and were twice stopped by the reactions of Onana in the United goal.

In the second half, both teams struggled to create chances until a Burnley mistake gifted Manchester United the lead. Berger played a careless pass that was intercepted by Anthony who streaked through Burnley’s back four. Muric did all he could to block the shot, but Anthony was able to fire the ball past the keeper’s outstretched fingers and score his first goal of the season for the Red Devils.

With a little over four minutes of normal time to play, Burnley were awarded a penalty. A poor clearance and header by Casemiro was falling for Amdouni. Onana came charging out and leapt fists up for the ball. The keeper missed the ball completely but caught Amdouni in the face. The VAR team called the referee to the monitor who had no choice but to point at the spot.

Amdouni took the penalty beautifully, sending Onana the wrong way and earning his side a crucial point.

Final score: Manchester United 1 - 1 Burnley

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

• Reactions
• To intercept
• Fist

Reactions

Your reactions are your ability to react quickly and accurately. So if you have good reactions, you will be able to respond quickly and accurately. Athletes need to have very fast reactions so they can beat their opponents to the ball and respond quickly when something exciting happens. Cats have really fast reactions, much faster than dogs. This makes them very good hunters as they can move very quickly when their prey, that is the animal they are hunting, moves.

To intercept

The verb intercept means to stop or collect something that was thrown or passed between two people. In football, if a player tries to pass to a teammate, but an opposition player runs in and gets the ball before it arrives, then they have intercepted the ball. It’s quite a common verb in sports, but it’s also used a lot in communication if messages are stopped and read when they are travelling between two people and also by the police who might stop a criminal on their way to commit a crime.

Fist

A fist is a hand when the fingers are closed as if someone is going to hit something with their knuckles. Your knuckles are the round bones that are sort of on the back of your hand when it’s closed that you use to punch with. Sometimes people wave their fists if they are angry as a warning that they are prepared to fight. In football, goalkeepers will normally try to catch the ball, but if they can’t catch it, they might try to punch it away with their fists.

Let’s move on to the final story.

Arsenal win in the North London Derby keeps title hopes alive

The last time Arsenal won the league, they secured the title in the North London Derby 20 years ago this week. This time Arsenal couldn’t win the title, but if they dropped any points at all, they could lose it and the Gunners had lost or drawn eight of their last nine away to Spurs.

Spurs were a bit unlucky twice in the first half. Firstly when Hojbjerg accidentally headed the ball into his own goal from an Arsenal corner and secondly when Mickey van de Ven had a goal ruled out after VAR judged him to have been offside by what can only have been millimetres.

Just before the half hour mark, Arsenal broke on the counter attack. Havertz fired a lovely long ball through for Saka who had pointed where he wanted it. Saka sidestepped Davies and fired the ball into the bottom left hand corner.

Not long after, Kai Havertz made it three for Arsenal with a well placed header from Declan Rice’s corner kick.

And then in the second half, Spurs were a bit lucky twice. Firstly, Vicario blocked Saka’s shot from close range and then David Raya failed to connect properly with a simple pass and gifted the ball to Romero who was delighted to fire it right back into the Arsenal goal.

With three minutes of regular time left to play, Declan Rice was watching the ball drop and preparing to volley it clear but he hadn’t noticed Ben Davies sliding in. Davies got a knee to the ball but Rice had already committed and instead of the ball, volleyed Ben Davies. Following a short VAR review, the referee awarded a penalty.

Son Heung Min struck the bell perfectly, stretching the net. Son darted forwards and scooped up the ball, before sprinting to the centre spot. Spurs threw everything forwards for the final minutes of the match, but Arsenal held on for the win and the chance to win the league title.

Final score: Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 3 Arsenal

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

• To commit
• To dart

To commit

The verb to commit basically means to promise that you are going to do something. Only, it has a more serious sense than a promise. To commit means to really dedicate yourself to something. So if you get married, you commit yourself to the relationship. If you are committed to something, perhaps an organisation like a football club or perhaps a charity or something related to the arts, then you are seriously interested in the success and survival of that thing. So you might describe a football fanatic as a really committed fan. Another part of the meaning of to commit, is that you can’t change your mind once you have committed. This is quite tricky. Imagine you are going to do a ski jump. So you have your suit and your skis and you get on the lift up the hill to the top of the ramp. You get to the top and look down at the ramp. It’s a long way and quite scary. If you want to back out, you can still do it. But you strap on your skis and get into the starting position. There’s a little bar you can sit on at the top of the ramp. Now, the second you shift your weight onto your skis, you commit, that’s it. You can’t change your mind now, you are committed. Whatever you feel about it, you are going down that ramp, there’s no way you can pull out. And that’s the meaning I used in the story. You see, Declan Rice was looking up at the ball when he pulled his leg back ready to volley the ball away. As the ball dropped, Rice was swinging his foot towards the ball. He was committed to clearing the ball. He just hadn’t seen Ben Davies and it was too late to stop, even with a professional footballer's reactions.

To dart

To dart means to move quickly in a straight line. Normally, a dart is a little arrow with a long point on the front. We use darts in the game darts, in which you throw darts or little arrows at a round target. You also use darts in some weapons, blow darts and vets use tranquilliser darts to knock out dangerous wild animals. The verb, to dart means to move like a dart. After Son had scored from the penalty spot, I said he darted forwards to collect the ball. He moved very quickly in a straight line because he wanted play to restart because he really wanted Spurs to score again.

Today, I’ve spoken about 9 useful words and phrases.

The words and phrases were:

• Hopes lifted
• Hopes dashed
• To tangle
• Spirit
• Reactions
• To intercept
• Fist
• To commit
• To dart

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

Blades relegated in Newcastle

Sheffield United started 10 points from safety and needed to win all of their remaining matches. Five minutes in, Sheffield fans' hopes were lifted when Anel Ahmedhozic headed in at the far post following a cleverly played corner, scoring his second Premier League goal.

However, those hopes were dashed when Alexander Isak equalised with a sensational shot. Jacob Murphy set Isak up with a beautiful through ball that took advantage of Isak’s pace who sprinted forwards to shoot.

Sheffield United kept pushing and looked like they were going to score ... from opportunities that they really should have scored from. Until Bruno Guimarães headed home from a free kick in the 54th minute and from then on, the Magpies had the upper hand.

Not long after, Anthony Gordon got his legs tangled up with a defender on his way into Sheffield’s penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. Isak scored his second with a confidently taken penalty kick.

Two more goals followed. The first was an unfortunate own goal from the boot of Ben Osborn following a scramble in the box and then Callum Wilson made it five with a confident finish.

The Blades have not had an easy season, but they are a young team and have played with spirit so I have no doubt they will be back.

Final score: Newcastle United 5 - 1 Sheffield United

Burnley still holding on

Earlier in the season, I admitted that I quite like Burnley and I am a fan of Vincent Kompany. Back then, Opta, a football statistics company gave Burnley a 1% chance of survival in the Premier League, but since then, they have had a pretty good run. There are three teams fighting to avoid two places, Burnley, Luton and Nottingham Forest, and there are only two points between them. Burnley have Newcastle and Spurs to play and before the final match of the season when they have to face Forest so there’s a chance that this battle won’t be over till the last minute of the last match of the season.

Last Saturday, Burnley took on Manchester United at Old Trafford. Both teams had early chances and the teams looked well matched. At around the half hour mark, Manchester United raised their game and started attacking with more intensity, but couldn’t make anything of it. Burnley responded with some dangerous attacks and were twice stopped by the reactions of Onana in the United goal.

In the second half, both teams struggled to create chances until a Burnley mistake gifted Manchester United the lead. Berger played a careless pass that was intercepted by Anthony who streaked through Burnley’s back four. Muric did all he could to block the shot, but Anthony was able to fire the ball past the keeper’s outstretched fingers and score his first goal of the season for the Red Devils.

With a little over four minutes of normal time to play, Burnley were awarded a penalty. A poor clearance and header by Casemiro was falling for Amdouni. Onana came charging out and leapt fists up for the ball. The keeper missed the ball completely but caught Amdouni in the face. The VAR team called the referee to the monitor who had no choice but to point at the spot.

Amdouni took the penalty beautifully, sending Onana the wrong way and earning his side a crucial point.

Final score: Manchester United 1 - 1 Burnley

Arsenal win in the North London Derby keeps title hopes alive

The last time Arsenal won the league, they secured the title in the North London Derby 20 years ago this week. This time Arsenal couldn’t win the title, but if they dropped any points at all, they could lose it and the Gunners had lost or drawn eight of their last nine away to Spurs.

Spurs were a bit unlucky twice in the first half. Firstly when Hojbjerg accidentally headed the ball into his own goal from an Arsenal corner and secondly when Mickey van de Ven had a goal ruled out after VAR judged him to have been offside by what can only have been millimetres.

Just before the half hour mark, Arsenal broke on the counter attack. Havertz fired a lovely long ball through for Saka who had pointed where he wanted it. Saka sidestepped Davies and fired the ball into the bottom left hand corner.

Not long after, Kai Havertz made it three for Arsenal with a well placed header from Declan Rice’s corner kick.

And then in the second half, Spurs were a bit lucky twice. Firstly, Vicario blocked Saka’s shot from close range and then David Raya failed to connect properly with a simple pass and gifted the ball to Romero who was delighted to fire it right back into the Arsenal goal.

With three minutes of regular time left to play, Declan Rice was watching the ball drop and preparing to volley it clear but he hadn’t noticed Ben Davies sliding in. Davies got a knee to the ball but Rice had already committed and instead of the ball, volleyed Ben Davies. Following a short VAR review, the referee awarded a penalty.

Son Heung Min struck the bell perfectly, stretching the net. Son darted forwards and scooped up the ball, before sprinting to the centre spot. Spurs threw everything forwards for the final minutes of the match, but Arsenal held on for the win and the chance to win the league title.

Final score: Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 3 Arsenal

Language challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about this language again. I have used AI to come up with examples of today’s words and phrases. I have removed the vocabulary from the stories so I want you to fill in the gaps with the correct forms of the language from the podcast.

Question 1. She __________ to running a marathon next year, starting her training immediately.

Question 2. The pilot's __________ helped avoid a potential disaster during the turbulent flight.

Question 3. The kitten managed to ________ itself in the ball of string, making a cute but chaotic mess.

Question 4. In frustration, he slammed his ______ against the wall, leaving a small dent.

Question 5. As the storm clouds gathered and it started to rain, their _______ of having the outdoor concert were _________.

Question 6. The fighter jets were scrambled to ________ an unidentified aircraft that had entered restricted airspace.

Question 7. She approached her challenges with a _______ that inspired everyone around her.

Question 8. He ________ down the alley, trying to escape the pursuers who were close behind.

Question 9. The announcement of the extended deadline meant that the team's _______ were _______; they now had more time to perfect their project.

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

Football phrase

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

I have a special challenge for you today. This week, I want you to try to come up with a new word or phrase for a shot on goal. There are loads of different ways to talk about a shot on goal. For example, you can say a strike or a finish, well, there are lots. I want you to look at the different comments and try to think of a new word or phrase. Now, the comments are moderated so some of you might come up with the same word or phrase and not see it as I might not have read and published everything, but that doesn’t matter. Just see what you can come up with.

Leave you words or phrases for a shot on goal 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. Following a string of losses, the coach saw the writing on the wall and resigned before the season ended.

Number 2. His statuesque posture made him stand out in the crowd, exuding confidence.

Number 3. She trained with such intensity that it inspired others to push their limits too.

Number 4. During the final match, the pressure was so intense that he choked and missed the last shot.

Number 5. She quickly emerged as a strong contender for the championship title with her impressive performance.

Number 6. Despite her fatigue, she mustered enough energy to finish the marathon.

Number 7. With a scrappy style of play, the underdog team clawed their way back into the game.

Number 8. Her intent was clear; she wanted to win the competition at any cost.

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 everyone stays fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.