This Week: A well-worked goal

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.

I want to start by saying that I am sorry for the delay but last week, my kids were off school for the half term holidays and my wife persuaded me to take a last minute holiday to Rome. I did take my microphone with me and I had intended to record a podcast, but in the end, after visiting the Colosseum and the Pantheon and all the other amazing sites, I was just too tired to make a podcast. This was my second visit to Rome and I have to say that I really love the city. Years and years ago, I spent a year in Palermo and had a fantastic time and I would love to spend longer in Rome.

Today, I’m talking about Arsenal’s first loss of the season against Bournemouth and the controversial red card that gave Bournemouth the advantage.

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

• Controversy
• To deny a clear goalscoring opportunity
• To consider
• A harsh call
• A numerical advantage
• A well-worked goal

Listen out for this vocabulary in the story.

But before I get to the story, I want to look at the last football phrase and fiendish football phrase. If you didn’t hear them in the last podcast, here’s one more chance to guess now.

Last time, the football phrase was to be *** ** *** *****. This phrase is used to say that a team is in the lead in the Premier League. We use this phrase to say that a particular team has more points or is equal in points to a rival but has a greater goal difference. The league leaders are *** ** *** *****.

The last fiendish football phrase was ****** ****. This describes a situation where two players on opposing teams jump in the air to try to head the ball. The first part of the phrase can be used for anything that is in the air or off the ground and the second part describes an intense competition between two people.
Congratulations to Alex from Ukraine, Andretorre from Brazil, Mobeckham from Turkey, Denis 2000 from Belarus, Lukáš from Czechia, Ahmed Abouzeid from Egypt, Vietnguyenngo from Viet Nam, and congratulations and welcome to two new football phrase finders Kentaro Uchida from Japan and Manh Cuong from Vietnam.

You all managed to work out that the football phrase was top of the table and the fiendish football phrase was aerial dual.

Commiserations to Hasan from Turkey who left a comment saying that he couldn’t find them this week. I think this must be the first time in years that you haven’t found the answer.

I’ve also had a request from Alex to reintroduce some Premier League predictions so I’m going to kick off with a new Prediction challenge after the story.

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

Now it’s time for the story.

Bournemouth beat Arsenal after Saliba red card

Arsenal lost their first match of the season at the Vitality Stadium against Bournemouth. The Cherries played really well, but the game had some controversy. William Saliba was sent off in the 30th minute after bringing down Francisco Evanilson just over the halfway line. This red card, Arsenal's third of the season, was especially frustrating for the fans for a couple of reasons.

First, the contact between Saliba and Evanilson seemed very light.

Second, the referee decided that the foul had denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.

What made it more frustrating was that the referee initially gave a yellow card, only upgrading or downgrading to red after a VAR review. This suggests that the referee didn’t think it was a clear goalscoring opportunity at first.

Evanilson was quite far from the goal, and some Arsenal fans questioned how clear the chance really was. When deciding if a foul denies a goalscoring opportunity, referees are supposed to consider things like the distance from the goal and the position of other defenders. While I understand why the referee changed his decision, it still feels like a harsh call.

Despite their numerical advantage, it took Bournemouth until the 70th minute to break through. They scored a well-worked goal from a set piece, and nine minutes later, they secured the win with a penalty.

Final score: Bournemouth 2 - 0 Arsenal

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

• Controversy
• To deny a clear goalscoring opportunity
• To consider
• A harsh call
• A numerical advantage
• A well-worked goal

Controversy

The noun controversy means a situation where people have very different opinions about something they really care about and often argue about it. The adjective form is controversial. So, for example, the use of VAR in football is still controversial as some people think it’s fantastic as it helps ensure that the referee makes fair decisions and some people think it’s terrible because it slows down the play as the game has to stop for the referee to review the replays. There is some controversy about VAR because people have different opinions and it’s something that people really care about. Interestingly, there is some controversy about the pronunciation of the noun. Some British speakers stress the second syllable. In fact, I used to say conTROVersy. I was told off by a colleague in Italy who thought I was using the American pronunciation. However, Americans stress the first syllable and only some Brits stress the second. I’m not sure if this really is a controversy or a controversy as I don’t think that many people care enough, but if you are worried about controversial pronunciation, you should probably try to stress the first syllable and talk about controversies.

To deny a clear goalscoring opportunity

The phrase to deny a clear goalscoring opportunity means to stop someone from having a very good chance to score a goal. What counts as a very good chance to score normally means that a player only has the goal keeper to beat and there’s little chance that a defender could get to them in time to tackle them or interfere with their shot.
In football, if a player is in a very good position to score, if there are no defenders running in and only the keeper to beat, and then another player does something to stop them, we say they have "denied a clear goalscoring opportunity." For example, if a player is running towards the goal with no defenders in the way and another player fouls them, that would deny the chance to score. This phrase is used in the rules that referees follow when deciding on how they should penalise a player for a foul.

To consider

The verb to consider means to think about something when making a decision. So if you need to make an important decision, there may be lots of different things to consider. For example, if you are looking for a new car, you might consider the initial cost, the fuel efficiency, the reputation for reliability, the look of the car, and where you can get the car serviced, and more. So when you are making an important decision, you consider all the important information. We also use the noun form consideration in the phrase to take into consideration which means the same as to consider, it just sounds more formal. So a judge might say that they have taken all the evidence and arguments into consideration before they announce their verdict. If you are in a meeting at work and you think that your colleagues have overlooked something, you could say: we need to take into consideration ... whatever it is you think they have overlooked. We need to take into consideration the weather before we finalise our plans.

A harsh call

In the phrase a harsh call, a call, is a judgement, usually from a referee or umpire, it’s most commonly used to talk about a judgement in sport. We do use the phrase a good call, in informal situations when someone has avoided a negative situation. So if someone tells you ‘we should leave early because the traffic on the way can be really bad’ and then later, if you are delayed by traffic, but still make it to your destination on time, you might tell them: leaving early was a good call. The phrase I’m talking about from the story, though is a harsh call. :The adjective harsh means too severe or too strict in a way that is possibly a bit unkind. So if a pupil at school does something wrong and then the teacher decides to suspend or expel the pupil, that punishment could be described as harsh. So while I understand why the referee sent Saliba off, I said that it felt like the judgement was too severe, I felt like it was a harsh call.

A numerical advantage

This is very easy to explain. An advantage is something that will help you in a competitive situation. It’s something that will help you that your competitors don’t have. A numerical advantage is what a team has when their opponents have a player sent off. Numerical just relates to numbers so it means that one team has more players on the pitch than the other team.

A well-worked goal

The phrase a well-worked goal is used to talk about a goal that resulted from a series of clever passes that was created by a team effort. So Bournemouth scored from a corner kick that involved a short pass to the edge of the box which was then quickly knocked on for Ryan Christie, all the while his teammates blocked Arsenal’s defence so when Christie’s shot was fired into the top right corner, Arsenal’s defenders and Raya in goal didn’t have a chance. It was clearly a set piece that had been practised a lot in training, something that had been worked on and something that they carried out perfectly. I think that Christie was quite surprised by the outcome and could be seen mouthing the words ‘it worked’ when celebrating.
Today, I’ve spoken about 6 useful words and phrases.

The words and phrases were:

• Controversy
• To deny a clear goalscoring opportunity
• To consider
• A harsh call
• A numerical advantage
• A well-worked goal

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

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 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.

Number 1. Some thought it was ________ to give the striker a yellow card for time-wasting.

Number 2. The opposing side struggled to defend with 10 men, giving our team a _______________ for the rest of the game.

Number 3. The politician’s comments sparked _________ across the country, with many calling for an apology.

Number 4. VAR confirmed that the defender’s foul had ______________________, leading to the penalty.

Number 5. The teacher will _____________ giving extra time for the project if the students request it.

Number 6. The manager was pleased to see his team score ______________ after practising that set piece all week.

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

Premier League Predictions

Now it’s time for me to make Premier League predictions for three of the matches coming up this weekend. I’d like to challenge you to make your own predictions and we’ll see if any of us get them right. I think that next week, I’ll try to publish the podcast earlier in the week to give you some more time.

Prediction 1.

OK for my first prediction, I’m going to go with something that I think should be easy. On Saturday at three, Manchester City will welcome Southampton to the Etihad Stadium. City haven’t lost a league match at home in years so I can’t see Southampton winning this one. Kevin de Bruyne should be back and Foden’s should be fit which means plenty of chances for Haaland. So what’s my prediction?
I’m going to predict another Haaland hat trick and a final score: Manchester City 3-0 Southampton

Prediction 2.

My second prediction is for the Chelsea - Newcastle United match on Sunday at five. Both teams were beaten last week and have been unpredictable so far this season. However, I’m going to go for a Chelsea win. Madueke and Jackson have been working hard and Cole Palmer has been brilliant. If they can link up well I think Chelsea will be unbeatable. Newcastle won’t make it easy though so my prediction is final score: Chelsea 2 - 1 Newcastle United

Prediction 3.

No prizes for guessing my third prediction. On Sunday evening, Arsenal are playing the league leaders Liverpool. This is a tough match to predict. Arsenal are probably going to have to do without five of their top players. Calafiori injured his knee in the Champions League match, Bukayo Saka has a hamstring injury, Odegaard is still recovering from an ankle injury and Saliba’s out of action due to his red card. Arsenal will still be able to field a formidable lineup but Liverpool have won their last four in a row. I’ve just checked the odds and Arsenal are favourites to win, but there’s not a lot in it. I think that both teams will defend well and that the match will be won by a late goal ... to ... Arsenal. My prediction is final score: Arsenal 1 - 0 Liverpool.

What do you think? Leave your predictions for the three matches and let’s see whose predictions are the best.

Football phrase

Now it’s time for this week's football phrases. For those of you who like hunting for the source of these phrases, today, I’ve extracted them from an article on the Premier League website about what the impact of Saliba’s absence will be on Arsenal’s chances on Sunday.

This week’s football phrase is *********. This is how you can describe a player who is not allowed to play after they get sent off. So if a player denies a clear goal scoring opportunity, they get ********* for one match. However, if they are shown a red card for violent conduct then they get ********* for three matches.

This week’s fiendish football phrase is ***-**-*** *********. This describes an aspect of the game that Saliba is better at than any other player in the country, according to the article. What this means is when players try to run past Saliba, he is really good at stopping them. His success rate for tackles on dribblers is 90%. Arsenal are really going to miss his ***-**-*** ********* on Sunday.

If you know either of the answers, be sure to leave them 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. After months of diligent work, the team successfully launched the new product.

Number 2. When the team leader was absent, she decided to step up and take charge of the project.

Number 3. The spider weaves its web delicately between the branches of the tree.

Number 4. It's easy to frustrate young learners if tasks are too difficult for them.

Number 5. The goalkeeper made a spectacular reflex save to keep the ball from crossing the line.

Number 6. We visited a magnificent castle during our trip to Scotland.

Number 7. The architecture of the cathedral is a true masterpiece of Gothic design.

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.