This Week: A Winning Streak

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 britishcouncil.org/premierskillsenglish 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.

The words and phrases I am focusing on this week are: A winning streak, to catch a glimpse, to pay off, to catch someone napping, hard-won, to rule something out, to dig deep, textbook and a rollercoaster

Listen out for these phrases in the headlines and stories.

Football Phrase

After each story there will be a short language focus and then there will be a task 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, I was looking for a noun that comes from a verb. The word was _____ and what makes it interesting is it’s the place where people do the opposite at a football match. If you go to watch a match live at the club, you will get tickets in the ____. At Anfield, one of the ____ behind a goal is called the Kop.

Congratulations to Wilson2103 from Colombia who was first again, Hsn from Turkey, Hajime from Japan, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, Faruk Arslan from Turkey, Harrykien from Vietnam and Taher Koshen from Somalia. You all worked out that the word I was looking for was stand.

OK! This week, we’ve got action at Old Trafford for Manchester United, a bonanza at the Amex Stadium for Brighton and a comeback for Bournemouth at the City Ground.

Let’s get on with the first story.

Manchester United pop Arsenal’s unbeaten bubble

These two teams have enjoyed the best and suffered the worst start to the season possible. Arsenal had won their first five matches while Manchester United lost their first two in humiliating defeats. However, Ten Hag’s team has pulled together and in their weekend clash at Old Trafford they broke the Gunner’s winning streak. Arsenal dominated much of the game and looked comfortable, even when Martinelli’s first goal was disallowed following a VAR review of an earlier challenge. But Manchester United were ruthless in transition and when Rashford received the ball in the box, he caught a glimpse of Antony charging in on his right. He slotted the ball through to provide the Brazilian with a perfect start at Old Trafford. Antony blasted the ball past Ramsdale to score on his debut.

Arsenal still looked the better team and the United keeper worked hard to deny the visitors an equaliser. After 60 minutes, Bukayo Saka got a well deserved goal to put the scores level.

Although Manchester United had been on the ropes for much of the match, Ten Hag never lost faith in his team. He held the offensive line and his belief paid off when Rashford put United back into the lead. When Rashford got his second, Arsenal finally seemed to have lost their confidence and Manchester United looked relaxed for the first time in a while.

Final score: Manchester United 3 - Arsenal 1

The words I want to talk about from this story are A winning streak, to catch a glimpse, and to pay off.

A winning streak is a series of wins in a row. A winning streak is a consecutive series of wins. If a team wins and then wins again and then wins again, you can say that they are on a winning streak ... I think that a team needs to rack up at least three wins in a row, three consecutive wins to say that they are on a winning streak. When the team is beaten, then you could say that their winning streak has come to an end or, like in the story, you can say that their winning streak has been broken. I said that Manchester United broke Arsenal’s winning streak. When they won, Arsenal’s winning streak was broken, the winning streak came to an end.

To catch a glimpse of something means to see something for a very short time. It is simpler to glance, but to glance at something means to look at something for a short period of time. If you glimpse something, you see it by accident or unexpectedly. The word glimpse can be a verb. You might glimpse someone in their window as you drive past their house. But I think it’s more commonly used as a noun and you can see a glimpse or catch a glimpse of someone or something while you are doing something else. I was wrapping my son’s birthday present when he came down yesterday evening. I quickly hid his present, but I think he may have caught a glimpse.

The last phrase I want to look at is to pay off. We use the phrasal verb to pay off to say that the work we did, the time we spent or money we invested was successful. I think we often use this phrasal verb when the reasons for some work or decisions are not clear. So if someone thinks you are working too hard or have made a bad decision, if it works out well, you can say it paid off in the end. All that hard work really paid off in the end. Ten Hag’s belief in his team paid off in the end. He could have changed his strategy when they were a goal up, but he was convinced that they could score more goals and that belief, that conviction, paid off.

Let’s move on to the next story.

Mac Allister’s Brighton brace breaks Leicester

Brighton have had a fantastic start to the season and are sitting in fourth place in the league table, ahead of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Leicester on the other hand have had a horrible start. Leicester are a good team and have scored enough goals to see them somewhere in the top half of the table, but they have a massive problem in defence. Before the match on Sunday, Leicester had conceded 11 goals. When they travelled to Brighton, they shipped another 5.

That said, Brighton deserved the win at the weekend. When Leicester’s Nigerian forward Kerlechi Ihanacho caught the seagulls napping at the start of the match and scored a goal after 1 minute, it looked like Leicester might take control. However, after 10 minutes, Solly March’s header took a deflection off Leicester’s Luke Thomas to equalise.

Brighton scored again with a precise strike from Moisés Caicedo from a difficult angle. Leicester fought back to make the scores level with a right-footed shot from distance for Patson Daka.

The score at half-time might have encouraged Leicester, but it had been hard-won and there was another half to play. When play restarted, Brighton were relentless. After Alexis Mac Allister had a goal ruled out after a VAR review, the team seemed even more determined. Leonardo Trossard put them back ahead after 64 minutes and then Mac Allister scored from the spot. With practically the last touch of the match, Mac Allister scored again from a free kick.

Final score: Brighton and Hove Albion 5 - Leicester City 2

The words and phrases I want to talk about from this story are to catch someone napping, hard-won, to rule something out,

If you catch someone napping, you take advantage of someone when they are not prepared. It is quite an easy idiom to understand. Literally, napping is sleeping so if you go somewhere and find the person you are looking for asleep, then they will not be prepared for you. In football, we use this when a team scores immediately after the whistle is blown to start the match. Sometimes, a team needs a few minutes on the pitch to warm up and for the players to concentrate and focus on the match. At this stage, if a team attacks right away, there is a chance that their opponents are not ready and they can be caught napping.

The adjective hard-won means achieved or earned after a lot of work or effort. So if a match is really tough and by the end of the match all of the players are exhausted, the result, if it’s a win or a draw could be described as hard-won. It was hard to win. This compound adjective is commonly used to describe rights. If you search for phrases online, you will find articles about the hard-won rights of women and people with disabilities. The rights that some people take for granted today were won at great cost to campaigners and activists. These are hard-won rights. In football English, I think that the meaning is easier to understand because you can watch how hard the players have to work for their achievements.

To rule out something or to rule something out means to say that it’s not possible or doesn’t count or shouldn’t be considered. Usually, we use this phrasal verb to say that a future option is not going to be considered. Politicians might rule themselves out of a political race or a recruitment panel might rule out some applicants for a job because of their qualifications. In football English, this is most commonly used in relation to VAR to say that the refereeing team who review the video after a controversial event have decided that a goal does not count. When a goal is disallowed, you can say that the goal has been ruled out.

Let’s move on to the final story.

Jaidon Anthony seals Bournemouth comeback victory

Bournemouth travelled to Nottingham Forest with their interim manager Gary O’Neil after their ex-manager said they were not prepared for football in the Premier League. In the first half, goals from Cheikhou Kouyaté and Brennan Johnson looked like Forest were on course for victory and their ex-manager was right. However, the Cherries dug deep and came out after the break with something to prove.

Philip Billing, the Danish midfielder got things going with a powerful shot from outside the box to score the first Bournemouth goal of the season. Dominic Salanke made the scores level with a textbook strike into the top right. And Jaidon Anthony sealed the win with a driving strike into the middle of the goal.

Following a difficult few weeks, including last week’s record humiliation, Bournemouth picked up a draw midweek and then an impressive win. The interim manager said:

“They are delighted, they need a rest, as do I, they have been on a rollercoaster of a journey since this time last Saturday.”

Final score: Nottingham Forest 2 - AFC Bournemouth 3

The words I want to talk about from this story are to dig deep, textbook and a rollercoaster

To dig deep is an interesting idiom that I think comes from the phrase to dig deep into your pockets. This means to pay more than you might have expected for something, as if you had to find extra money at the bottom of your pocket. So you can dig deep into your personal finances if you have to pay more and you can dig deep into your reserves of energy or your stores of determination. If a person or a team digs deep, we mean they worked harder than they might have been expected to. It’s the sort of idiom that a manager might use at half time if their team is losing. I need you to dig deep, to find extra resources of energy and determination. This is what AFC Bournemouth managed at Nottingham Forest. Most teams would have been downhearted to be losing at halftime, especially having been so recently humiliated. It showed impressive resilience for the Cherries to come back and win, they really dug deep and showed they had reserves of strength.

We use the adjective textbook to describe something that we think is a really good example; the sort of example that you would find in an official textbook about the topic. So if there was a book about scoring goals that you could study at football school, you would find perfect examples of different types of goals. If you score a goal that’s like one from the book, it would be a textbook example. OK, this is figurative as there doesn’t actually have to be a textbook to describe something as a textbook example. It just means that it’s a perfect example.

The last item I want to talk about today is roller coaster. A roller coaster is normally a little train on a track that goes up and down rapidly that you’d find in an amusement park. If you ride on a rollercoaster, you go up and down and left and right rapidly. You change direction and sometimes even loop the loop. We use the noun roller coaster to describe any series of events that involve similar rapid changes but for your emotions. So if you are happy and then sad and then angry and then happy again, the events that you have experienced could be described as an emotional roller coaster.

OK. That’s 9 words or phrases today. The words and phrases from the stories were: a winning streak, to catch a glimpse, to pay off, to catch someone napping, hard-won, to rule something out, to dig deep, textbook and a rollercoaster .

Listen to the headlines and stories one more time to hear these words and phrases in context.

Manchester United pop Arsenal’s unbeaten bubble

These two teams have enjoyed the best and suffered the worst start to the season possible. Arsenal had won their first five matches while Manchester United lost their first two in humiliating defeats. However, Ten Hag’s team has pulled together and in their weekend clash at Old Trafford they broke the Gunner’s winning streak. Arsenal dominated much of the game and looked comfortable, even when Martinelli’s first goal was disallowed following a VAR review of an earlier challenge. But Manchester United were ruthless in transition and when Rashford received the ball in the box, he caught a glimpse of Antony charging in on his right. He slotted the ball through to provide the Brazilian with a perfect start at Old Trafford. Antony blasted the ball past Ramsdale to score on his debut.

Arsenal still looked the better team and the United keeper worked hard to deny the visitors an equaliser. After 60 minutes, Bukayo Saka got a well deserved goal to put the scores level.

Although Manchester United had been on the ropes for much of the match, Ten Hag never lost faith in his team. He held the offensive line and his belief paid off when Rashford put United back into the lead. When Rashford got his second, Arsenal finally seemed to have lost their confidence and Manchester United looked relaxed for the first time in a while.

Final score: Manchester United 3 - Arsenal 1

Mac Allister’s Brighton brace breaks Leicester

Brighton have had a fantastic start to the season and are sitting in fourth place in the league table, ahead of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Leicester on the other hand have had a horrible start. Leicester are a good team and have scored enough goals to see them somewhere in the top half of the table, but they have a massive problem in defence. Before the match on Sunday, Leicester had conceded 11 goals. When they travelled to Brighton, they shipped another 5.

That said, Brighton deserved the win at the weekend. When Leicester’s Nigerian forward Kerlechi Ihanacho caught the seagulls napping at the start of the match and scored a goal after 1 minute, it looked like Leicester might take control. However, after 10 minutes, Solly March’s header took a deflection off Leicester’s Luke Thomas to equalise.

Brighton scored again with a precise strike from Moisés Caicedo from a difficult angle. Leicester fought back to make the scores level with a right-footed shot from distance for Patson Daka.

The score at half-time might have encouraged Leicester, but it had been hard-won and there was another half to play. When play restarted, Brighton were relentless. After Alexis Mac Allister had a goal ruled out after a VAR review, the team seemed even more determined. Leonardo Trossard put them back ahead after 64 minutes and then Mac Allister scored from the spot. With practically the last touch of the match, Mac Allister scored again from a free kick.

Final score: Brighton and Hove Albion 5 - Leicester City 2

Jaidon Anthony seals Bournemouth comeback victory

Bournemouth travelled to Nottingham Forest with their interim manager Gary O’Neil after their ex-manager said they were not prepared for football in the Premier League. In the first half, goals from Cheikhou Kouyaté and Brennan Johnson looked like Forest were on course for victory and their ex-manager was right. However, the Cherries dug deep and came out after the break with something to prove.

Philip Billing, the Danish midfielder got things going with a powerful shot from outside the box to score the first Bournemouth goal of the season. Dominic Salanke made the scores level with a textbook strike into the top right. And Jaidon Anthony sealed the win with a driving strike into the middle of the goal.

Following a difficult few weeks, including last week’s record humiliation, Bournemouth picked up a draw midweek and then an impressive win. The interim manager said:

“They are delighted, they need a rest, as do I, they have been on a rollercoaster of a journey since this time last Saturday.”

Final score: Nottingham Forest 2 - AFC Bournemouth 3

Language Challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again.

Here are 9 sentences with gaps in them and you have to complete the gaps with the correct form of the words and phrases from this podcast.

Number 1. Mac Allister’s goal of the season contender has been _____ ___ by VAR.

Number 2. The striker pivoted and placed a ________ finish into the corner.

Number 3. They weren’t ready for the pace of the winger and got ______ _______ when he drove the ball forward when play restarted.

Number 4. It wasn’t the longest _______ ______, but it was a great way to start this season’s campaign.

Number 5. When you visit the coast, if you keep an eye out, you might _____ _ _______ of a seal or even a dolphin.

Number 6. By halftime, I was exhausted. I really had to ___ ____ to make it through the second half.

Number 7. At the beginning of the week, I lost my job and had to move out, but then I got a new job and have just found an even better place to live. It’s been a real emotional _____________.

Number 8. Thanks to ________ advances in vaccines and medicine, the battle against Covid is looking winnable.

Number 9. If you listen to podcasts and try to watch TV in English, it will ___ ___ if you ever take an English exam.

Leave your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and I will go through them next week.

Football Phrase

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

This week, I’m looking for a noun. That means a date and time for a future match. On the Premier League website, there is a page with all the _______. You can filter the list by club to see who your team is playing next and when they will face their biggest rivals.

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, here are the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1. Some people believe that to succeed in this world you have to be ruthless ... and there’s a special word for those people.

Number 2. When he asked me to go with him to the table tennis tournament, I wasn’t sure, but his enthusiasm was infectious and I got carried away by the excitement and had a great time.

Number 3. When the kids got back from their camping trip, they all looked a bit scruffy and in need of a wash.

Number 4. The decision to delay the move turned out to be a major blunder and cost the club millions of pounds.

Number 5. The increases in energy costs do not bode well for the winter.

Number 6. The new signing scored with an inspiring goal at the precise moment that the team needed.

Number 7. Liverpool scored a record equalling victory against Bournemouth when they won 9-0.

Number 8. Arsenal equalised when Odegaard’s strike took a deflection off the Fulham defender.

Number 9. Before Arteta took over at Arsenal, he was for a spell the assistant manager at Manchester City.

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.