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Sergio Aguero scores the winner for City against Burnley.

Matchweek 36: Cleared off the line

Matchweek 36: Cleared off the line

Welcome to This Week from Premier Skills English, a weekly review of football action for learners of English from across the globe. In This Week, Jack and Rich talk about the latest action from the Premier League. They keep you up to date with our prediction competition and have lots of football English for you to learn.

Transcript

If the listening is a bit difficult, try listening and reading at the same time.
Read the transcript and listen at the same time.

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.

Results

Matchweek 36:

Brighton 1-1 Newcastle

Tottenham 0-1 West Ham

Southampton 3-3 Bournemouth

Liverpool 5-0 Huddersfield

Manchester Utd 1-1 Chelsea

Leicester City 3-0 Arsenal

Fulham 1-0 Cardiff City

Watford 1-2 Wolves

Burnley 0-1 Manchester City

Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton

Headlines

Reds on fire as they hit five against Huddersfield

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane both scored twice against Huddersfield.

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.

Headlines

City scrape past Burnley

A Burnley defender tries to clear Sergio Aguero's shot off the line.

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!

Headlines

De Gea blunder keeps Chelsea in front of the pack

David De Gea's mistake led to Chelsea's equaliser.

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.

Vocabulary Alert

Football English

We looked at six pieces of football English that you can learn to improve your English. Take a look at the phrases in bold. Do you understand what they mean?

Liverpool were on fire against Huddersfield - they were playing really, really well.

Liverpool made a flying start against Huddersfield when Naby Keita scored after just 15 seconds.

Manchester City scraped past Burnley. They won but they were not very impressive.

Sergio Aguero’s shot was cleared off the line. A defender kicked the ball away just before the ball goes in the net.

De Gea blunder keeps Chelsea in front of the pack. His mistake allowed Chelsea to score.

David De Gea spilled a shot from Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger which allowed Marcos Alonso to score. 

Sergio Aguero's winning goal helped City scrape past Burnley.

Can you use the words in bold in a different sentence? Write a sentence at the bottom of the page. If you're not sure, listen to the audio for more explanations and examples.

Matchweek Awards

Do you agree with our choices?

Player of the Week: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Team of the Week: Leicester City

Goal of the Week: Ryan Babel (Fulham)

Ryan Babel scored with a great curling shot that won the game for Fulham against Cardiff.

The Big Match

Manchester City v Leicester City

The big match this weekend is crucial in the race for the Premier League title. Manchester City play Leicester City at the Etihad. Rich thinks City will win but Jen thinks it will be a draw. Do you agree?

What are your predictions? Have a listen to what Rich and Jen say and then enter our prediction competition below. You get one point for the correct result and three points for predicting the exact score.

Where are you in our prediction league?

Who will be our Premier League Prediction Champion?

Form

Premier League Prediction: Manchester City v Leicester

Use this form to make your prediction. You can only make one prediction so take care! When you have made your predictions, the form will vanish.

You need to be logged in to make your prediction!

Check out the league table for our prediction competition. What position are you in?

See results table

Leicester City and Jamie Vardy are in good form at the moment. Can they stop Manchester City winning the title?

Four Questions

What do you think?

Jen and Rich have spoken about Matchweek 36 in the Premier League. Now it's your turn! Have a look at the questions and write your answers in the comments section below.

  1. Rich and Jen chose Liverpool's Mohamed Salah as Player of the Week. Do you agree? 
  2. Jen and Rich selected Leicester City as their Team of the Week. Do you agree?
  3. Rich picked Ryan Babel's goal for Fulham as Goal of the Week? Did you see it? Do you agree?
  4. Use this week's vocabulary: What's the biggest goalkeeping blunder you can remember? Do you think Liverpool and Tottenham will be on fire in this week's Champions League matches?

Don't forget to make your prediction for this week's Big Match!

Let's get the conversation started and create a community!

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Comments

hsn's picture
hsn
10/02/2022
TR
5525
points

Phrases
• We should make a comprehensive work on this issue. Otherwise it'll remain on the agenda and will effects company performance badly for so long time.
• She won all sets and lift trophy. She was on fire at this tennis competition.
• Team scraped through the semi-final by a narrow margin.
• All the unnecessary things were cleared off the room.
• The goalie spilled the shot then opponent striker accepted this rebound and scored.


hsn's picture
hsn
10/02/2022 17:59
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5525

Phrases
• We should make a comprehensive work on this issue. Otherwise it'll remain on the agenda and will effects company performance badly for so long time.
• She won all sets and lift trophy. She was on fire at this tennis competition.
• Team scraped through the semi-final by a narrow margin.
• All the unnecessary things were cleared off the room.
• The goalie spilled the shot then opponent striker accepted this rebound and scored.

elghoul's picture
elghoul
03/05/2019
DZ
3988
points

1. One more time Salah wins the best player week award!

2. Times they're changing for Leicester as they have been struggling all the season. Unfortunately a bit too late for any good place in the table.

3. Babel in his late carreer show must be happy again. Sorry but I didn't see his goal.

4. No place for blunders in this first leg semi finals. Nor Tottenham nor Liverpool were on fire. The road to Madrid seems lost for them both.


elghoul's picture
elghoul
03/05/2019 16:24
Algeria
Manchester City
3988

1. One more time Salah wins the best player week award!

2. Times they're changing for Leicester as they have been struggling all the season. Unfortunately a bit too late for any good place in the table.

3. Babel in his late carreer show must be happy again. Sorry but I didn't see his goal.

4. No place for blunders in this first leg semi finals. Nor Tottenham nor Liverpool were on fire. The road to Madrid seems lost for them both.

Leo Peres
03/05/2019
BR
38
points

Yes , I'm consider with all results
I believe that both teams have a hard way in the Champions league.


Leo Peres
03/05/2019 16:19
Brazil
Tottenham Hotspur
38

Yes , I'm consider with all results
I believe that both teams have a hard way in the Champions league.

Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
01/05/2019
BR
615
points

I completely agree with all your choices this week.
I listened to the podcast a little bit late, so definitely Tottenham wasn't on fire in Champions League. Let's see Liverpool now.
The last season Champions League final, Karius, the former Liverpool goalkeeper, gifted Real Madrid with terrible blunders.


Rafael Robson's picture
Rafael Robson
01/05/2019 13:12
Brazil
Tottenham Hotspur
615

I completely agree with all your choices this week.
I listened to the podcast a little bit late, so definitely Tottenham wasn't on fire in Champions League. Let's see Liverpool now.
The last season Champions League final, Karius, the former Liverpool goalkeeper, gifted Real Madrid with terrible blunders.

Khaldoun83's picture
Khaldoun83
29/04/2019
DZ
325
points

-Hi there, before I comment on this week's choices I would like to suggest Awards of the season in which you annouce them in the last match and declare the winners after a week by allowing the users of this site voting through it.

- I agree with your choices.


Khaldoun83's picture
Khaldoun83
29/04/2019 17:34
Algeria
Liverpool
325

-Hi there, before I comment on this week's choices I would like to suggest Awards of the season in which you annouce them in the last match and declare the winners after a week by allowing the users of this site voting through it.

- I agree with your choices.

Rich's picture
Rich
29/04/2019
ES
594
points

Hi Khaldoun83,

I'll talk to Jack and we'll definitely do something around awards for the season. I think your idea is a good one.

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team


Rich's picture
Rich
29/04/2019 20:12
Spain
Liverpool
594

Hi Khaldoun83,

I'll talk to Jack and we'll definitely do something around awards for the season. I think your idea is a good one.

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team

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