Matchweek 36: Cleared off the line

Introduction  

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

Jen: Hi there. I’m Jen. Jack’s not here this week but we’ve still got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

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

Jen: 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.

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

Jen: Let’s start with our headlines!

Headlines

Jen: Reds on fire as they hit five against Huddersfield.

Rich: Liverpool made a flying start against Huddersfield when Naby Keita scored after just 15 seconds - Liverpool’s fastest-ever Premier League goal. Doubles from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a comprehensive win and sent them back to the top of the table.

Jen: City scrape past Burnley.

Rich: Manchester City moved closer to the Premier League title with a 1-0 win at Burnley. Sergio Aguero got the winner but only just. The ball was cleared off the line but the goal was given with the help of goal-line technology. The ball had crossed the line by less than three centimetres!

Jen: De Gea blunder keeps Chelsea in front of the pack.

Rich: A 1-1 draw between Manchester United and Chelsea means Chelsea remain favourites to clinch the final Champions League place. Juan Mata scored to give Manchester United the lead but David De Gea spilled Antonio Rudiger’s long-range shot and Marcos Alonso scored the equaliser.

Jen: So, do you think Liverpool or City are going to win the title? There are just two games left.

Rich: You know that I’m hoping that Liverpool can do it but I think City are going to win their last two games.

Jen: I’m not so sure. I think the last game of the season is going to be very interesting.

Vocabulary alert!

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

Jen: Our six words and phrases this week are: to be on fire, a flying start, to scrape past, to be cleared off the line, a blunder and to spill a shot.

Rich: Let’s start with the phrase ‘to be on fire’. In the headlines, we said ‘Reds on fire as they hit five against Huddersfield’.

Jen: In sport, to be on fire means to be playing really well and unable to be stopped. Liverpool were on fire against Huddersfield - they were playing really, really well.

Rich: The next phrase is ‘a flying start’. In the headlines, we said ‘Liverpool made a flying start against Huddersfield when Naby Keita scored after just 15 seconds.’

Jen: A flying start is a phrase we use to say that a team or a competitor starts a game or a race really well.

Rich: The next phrase is ‘to scrape past’. We said that ‘Manchester City scraped past Burnley’. To scrape past means to be successful but not in a very impressive way.

Jen: We also use the word ‘scrape’ in cup competitions. We say a team scraped through to the next round if they were a bit fortunate or lucky to win.

Rich: The next phrase is to be cleared off the line. In the headlines, we said that Sergio Aguero’s shot was cleared off the line.

Jen: In this phrase, the line is the goal line and the phrase means a defender kicks the ball away just before the ball goes in the net.

Rich: The next word is blunder. This is a synonym of mistake or error but is a little stronger. It usually means a mistake that shouldn’t be made.

Jen: In the headlines, we said ‘De Gea blunder keeps Chelsea in front of the pack.’

Rich: The final phrase is ‘to spill a shot’. This is a phrase we use when a player shoots at a goalkeeper and the goalkeeper drops the ball when he shouldn’t.

Jen: David De Gea spilled a shot from Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger. This allowed Marcos Alonso to score a goal. 

Rich: OK, so there are our six words and phrases. Listen to this part of the podcast again if you are not sure how to use them.

Jen: The words and phrases are: to be on fire, a flying start, to scrape past, to be cleared off the line, a blunder and to spill a shot.

Football Awards

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

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

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

Jen: Let’s start with Player of the Week. There were some great performances in Matchweek 36.

Rich: Sadio Mane was brilliant for Liverpool, Jamie Vardy on fire for Leicester and Callum Wilson sensational for Bournemouth as all three players scored doubles for their clubs.

Jen: But our Player of the Week is Mohamed Salah who also scored two goals. The Egyptian is back in form at exactly the right time for the Reds.

Rich: The next award is for Team of the Week. There were good wins for Liverpool, City, West Ham, Fulham and Wolves.

Jen: But our Team of the Week is Leicester City after their 3-0 win against Arsenal.

Rich:  And finally, our Goal of the Week. Michail Antonio scored a great goal for West Ham against Spurs and Mohamed Salah scored with a lovely lob for Liverpool.

Jen: But our Goal of the Week goes to Fulham’s Ryan Babel for his winning goal against Cardiff. A brilliant curling finish.

Matchweek Prediction 

Jen: 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.

Jen: What’s the big match this weekend?

Rich: Next Monday, Manchester City are at home to Leicester City in a match that can edge City closer to the Premier League title. In fact, if Liverpool lose against Newcastle City could win the title with a win but if Liverpool win there will be a lot of pressure on City. Leicester have been playing well recently and have players that can hurt City and their new manager, Brendan Rogers, used to be the Liverpool manager so he might want to help his old team. Despite this, I think City will have too much for Leicester and they will win. Final score: Manchester City 2-1 Leicester City.

Jen: Let’s go for a draw. I think it will be one all. That will make the final day of the season even more exciting.

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

Jen: 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.