Matchweek 32 - Own Goal

Introduction  

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

Rich: Hi there. I’m Rich. We’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

Jack: We want you to use and practise these phrases by interacting with Premier League fans from around the world in our comments section.

Rich: If you listen to us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you can leave your comments in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.

Jack: You can find all our latest content on the Premier Skills English homepage or the Premier Skills-British Council Facebook page. 

Rich: Let’s start with our headlines!

Headlines

Jack: A slice of luck sends Liverpool back to the top.

Rich: Liverpool left it late against Spurs but got the three points when Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld scored a last-minute own goal to send the Liverpool fans home happy. Liverpool took an early lead through Roberto Firmino’s header but Spurs deservedly came back into it in the second half.  Lucas Moura got the equaliser with 20 minutes left but they were out of luck as Hugo Lloris failed to hold onto the ball and the luckless Alderweireld put the ball into his own net.

Jack: City in comfortable win at Fulham.

Rich: City kept the pressure on Liverpool with an easy 2-0 win in London against Fulham. Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero both scored in the first half to send City top for 24 hours. They could go back to the top when they play their game in hand at home to Cardiff on Wednesday night. However, City fans may have been worried by Sergio Aguero limping off early in the second half of the match; they won’t want to lose the Premier League’s top scorer for the run-in.

Jack: Huddersfield down and out in London.

Rich: Huddersfield were relegated at the weekend following their 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace. It was a sad day for the club but the writing had been on the wall for the Terriers. They have been bottom of the table since December and have only won three games all season.

Jack: It’s always a bit sad for the fans when a team goes down but I’m sure Huddersfield will bounce back next season. What about the top of the table though?

Rich: It’s very exciting. City go top on Saturday and then Liverpool go back to the top on Sunday.

Jack: And it could all change again on Wednesday night with City playing and Liverpool, not in action.

Rich: Yes, I think there will be lots of twists and turns - or changes right up to the end of the season.

Vocabulary alert!

Jack: In our vocabulary alert, we look at some football English that we used in the headlines.

Rich:  Our six words and phrases this week are: an own goal, to come back into it, a game in hand, to limp off, the run-in, and the writing to be on the wall.

Jack: Let’s start with an own goal. An own goal is when a player scores for the wrong team when the player puts the ball in his own net. 

Rich: In the Liverpool - Tottenham match Toby Alderweireld a Tottenham defender scored an own goal which gave Liverpool all three points.

Jack: The next phrase is to come back into it. We sais that Tottenham came back into it in the second half against Liverpool. The phrase means to play better after you had not been playing well.

Rich: The second half was much more equal and Tottenham played very well - the came back int the match.

Jack: Right, the next phrase is a game in hand. To have a game in hand means to have played a match fewer than other teams.

Rich: Manchester City have a game in hand over Liverpool. If they win their game in hand they will go back to the top of the Premier League.

Jack: The next phrase is to limp off. The phrase means to leave the pitch walking slowly and with difficulty because you are injured. 

Rich: Sergio Aguero limped off on Saturday and City fans will be worried that he’s not ready for the next match.

Jack: The next phrase is the run-in. City won’t want to lose Sergio Aguero for the run-in. The run-in is the last few matches of the season. It can be as many as the last 10 matches or as few as the last two.

Rich: It’s quite subjective what the run-in actually is. We talk about teams who have an easy run-in or a difficult run-in. This means that their last few matches or fixtures are predicted to be easy or difficult.

Jack; The final phrase this week is an idiom and it’s the writing is on the wall. It means that there are very clear signs that something is going to be very difficult or bad.

Rich: When speaking about Huddersfield's relegation we said the writing had been on the wall for a while. We more or less knew that they were going to be relegated because they weren’t playing very well.

Football Awards

Jack: Right, every week, we give out three Matchweek awards. 

Rich: The awards are Player of the Week, Team of the Week and Goal of the Week.

Jack: In the comments section, you need to tell us if you agree with our choices.

Rich: Let’s start with Player of the Week. There were some strong performances in Matchweek 32.

Jack: Luke Shaw played well for Manchester United, Sergio Aguero keeps scoring for Manchester City and Wes Morgan has been looking good for Leicester as their revival continues under the new manager.

Rich: But our Player of the Week is Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil. Arsenal were superb against Newcastle and Mesut Ozil was at the heart of everything they did well.

Jack: The next award is for Team of the Week. There was that great win for Liverpool and both Manchester clubs won but our Team of the Week is Burnley who got a great 2-0 win against Wolves.

Rich: Finally our Goal of the Week. 19-year-old Dwight O’Neil scored a fine solo goal for Burnley, Bernardo Silva scored a great goal for City and Victor Camarasa scored a brilliant volley for Cardiff who deserved much more in their defeat against Chelsea.

Jack: But our goal of the Week goes to Manchester CIty’s Sergi Aguero for his delicate little chip against Fulham. He set up the other goal, too!

Matchweek Prediction 

Jack: Every week, Rich predicts the result of one Premier League match and we want you to make your prediction, too.

Rich: Make your predictions on the Premier Skills English website. You get one point if you predict the right result and three points if you predict the right score.

Jack: What’s the big match this weekend?

Rich: This weekend we’ve got the FA Cup semi-finals and a few Premier League games. I’m going to look at the former. I think City will beat Brighton in the first semi-final but I think the second semi will be much closer. Wolves take on Watford at Wembley. Both teams have had good seasons and sit in the top half of the Premier League. A FA Cup Final appearance would make a good season an excellent one for both of these teams. Watford have match winners in their team like Gerard Deulofeu and they’ve already beaten Wolves this season but I think Wolves are a team on the rise and will play their first FA Cup Final in nearly sixty years. Final score: Wolves 2-1 Watford

Jack: I think Watford will win. 1-0 after extra-time.

Rich: Right, that’s all we have time for. I hope you have enjoyed this football round-up. Join the discussion at the bottom of the page on the Premier Skills English website. 

Jack: If you listen to us on Apple Podcasts, don’t forget to leave us a review. We’d love to hear from you.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football.