Matchweek 6: Pick of the bunch
Matchweek 6: Pick of the bunch
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 and have lots of football English for you to learn.
Transcript
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 our round-up of Matchweek six with our headlines.
Headlines
Jack: City run riot against Watford.
Rich: Manchester City bounced back from last week’s defeat against Norwich with an astonishing 8-0 win against Watford. City were 5-0 up with less than 20 minutes played and had chances to break the record for the Premier League’s biggest ever win which is 9-0. There was a Bernardo Silva hat-trick and goals from David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolas Otamendi and Kevin De Bruyne with the pick of the bunch.
Rich: Liverpool hang on to make it six out of six.
Jack: Liverpool made it six wins in a row and stay five points clear at the top of the table after a 2-1 win away at Chelsea. Liverpool stormed into a 2-0 first-half lead after a wonderful goal from Trent Alexander Arnold and a Roberto Firmino header. Chelsea, who had a first-half goal ruled out by a tight offside decision were better in the second half and N’Golo Kante pulled one back with a brilliant individual goal. Chelsea dominated but couldn’t find an equaliser against a strong Liverpool defence.
Jack: Ten-man Arsenal stun Villa.
Rich: Arsenal moved into the top four after a thriller with Villa. John McGinn put Villa ahead in the first half and Arsenal had a mountain to climb when Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent off before the break. Nicolas Pepe got his first goal for Arsenal to equalise but Villa went back ahead a minute later after some brilliant work from Jack Grealish set up Wesley for the goal. Callum Chambers got a second equaliser for the Gunners and then with five minutes left who else but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got the winner with a brilliant free-kick.
Jack: That was a great win for Arsenal.
Rich: It was a brilliant weekend of action. The best this season I think. There were also great wins for West Ham, Leicester City, Sheffield United, Bournemouth and Burnley.
Vocabulary alert!
Jack: In our vocabulary alert, we look at some football English that we used in the headlines.
Rich: We have some difficult phrases this week. Our six phrases are: to run riot, to bounce back, the pick of the bunch, to be ruled out, a tight offside decision and a mountain to climb.
Jack: Let’s start with the one that is probably the most difficult ‘to run riot’. We said that Manchester City ran riot against Watford. ‘To run riot’ means to behave in an uncontrolled way.
Rich: It’s often used to describe children at home or school who are allowed to run riot or do what they want. Nobody is controlling them.
Jack: In football, it is used to describe a team that can not be controlled. Watford couldn’t control City who scored eight goals - City were allowed to run riot.
Rich: The next phase is to bounce back. It means to recover quickly and usually recover quickly from something that is bad or painful.
Jack: Manchester City bounced back from defeat against Norwich last week to run riot against Watford this week.
Rich: Right, the next phrase is the pick of the bunch. This phrase is used to describe the best among a number of things.
Jack: Manchester City scored eight goals and we said Kevin De Bruyne’s goal was the pick of the bunch. This means it was the best goal out of the eight City scored.
Rich: The next phrase is to be ruled out. This is a phrase we are using more and more now we use VAR in the Premier League.
Jack: To rule something out means to stop something from happening. Chelsea had a goal ruled out by VAR at the weekend. The goal wasn’t permitted.
Rich: It wasn’t permitted because it was offside. It was a tight offside decision. That’s a phrase we hear quite a bit ‘a tight offside decision’.
Jack: Offside decisions are often described as tight. We hear commentators saying ‘that is very tight’. It means close. They say it when they are not sure if it is offside or not.
Rich: OK, our final phrase this week is to have a mountain to climb. This phrase is used when someone has a very difficult task or challenge ahead of them.
Jack: Arsenal had a mountain to climb when they were 1-0 down with ten men but I’m very happy that they got to the top of the mountain - they won the match!
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.
Jack: The words and phrases are: to run riot, to bounce back, the pick of the bunch, to be ruled out, a tight offside decision and a mountain to climb.
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 great performances last weekend but we have to choose a Manchester City player after their 8-0 win.
Jack: Bernardo Silva might have scored a hat-trick but our Player of the Week is Kevin De Bruyne. He was unplayable.
Rich: Our next award is for Team of the Week.
Jack: Easy. Manchester City. Next.
Rich: Yes, you’re right. All right, Goal of the Week. There were some fantastic goals last weekend. James Maddison for Leicester, Hary Kane for Spurs and N’Golo Kante for Chelsea.
Jack: There were so many that we are going to limit ourselves to free-kicks. Which one of these was the best.
Rich: Free-kick number one: Aaron Cresswell for West Ham against Manchester United. A long-range screamer into the top corner.
Jack: Free-kick number two: Trent Alexander-Arnold for Liverpool versus Chelsea. Mohamed Salah back-heeled the ball into Arnold’s path who blasted it into the net.
Rich: Free-kick number three: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Arsenal v Aston Villa. A stunner. Beautifully curled into the top corner from just outside the area.
Jack: A tough decision for you to make there. Those are our three options. Did you see them? Which do you think was the best? Let us know your choice and if you agree with our other weekly awards in our comments section on the Premier Skills English website.
Matchweek Prediction
Jack: Every week, Rich predicts the result of one Premier League match and we want you to make your prediction, too.
Rich: I went for a draw between Chelsea and Liverpool but I got it wrong again … happily.
Jack: I see the two teams you support are playing each other next week. Sheffield United are at home to Liverpool. Are you going to make a prediction?
Rich: No, I don’t want to.
Jack: Go on.
Rich: No, I’m going to predict the result of your team - Arsenal who are away to Manchester United next Monday. Both teams have had a mixed start to the season. Manchester United seem to have problems scoring goals and Arsenal seem to have problems conceding goals. United will want to bounce back from defeat against West Ham last week but with a few injuries, I think they might find this difficult. I think Arsenal will score and it will probably be Aubameyang but I think UNited will scape an equaliser. Final score: Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal.
Jack: A draw wouldn’t be the worst result in the world.
Rich: You can make your predictions on the Premier Skills English website in the comments section and talk about the big match at the same time!
Jack: Remember that we also have some questions for you to answer that give you a chance to use this week’s vocabulary.
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.
Results
Matchweek 6:
Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa
Everton 0-2 Sheffield United
Crystal Palace 1-1 Wolves
Southampton 1-3 Bournemouth
Manchester City 8-0 Watford
Leicester City 2-1 Tottenham
Burnley 2-0 Norwich
Newcastle United 0-0 Brighton
West Ham United 2-0 Manchester United
Headlines
City run riot against Watford
Manchester City bounced back from last week’s defeat against Norwich with an astonishing 8-0 win against Watford. City were 5-0 up with less than 20 minutes played and had chances to break the record for the Premier League’s biggest ever win which is 9-0. There was a Bernardo Silva hat-trick and goals from David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolas Otamendi and Kevin De Bruyne with the pick of the bunch.
Headlines
Liverpool hang on to make it six out of six
Liverpool made it six wins in a row and stay five points clear at the top of the table after a 2-1 win away at Chelsea. Liverpool stormed into a 2-0 first-half lead after a wonderful goal from Trent Alexander Arnold and a Roberto Firmino header. Chelsea, who had a first-half goal ruled out by a tight offside decision were better in the second half and N’Golo Kante pulled one back with a brilliant individual goal. Chelsea dominated but couldn’t find an equaliser against a strong Liverpool defence.
Headlines
Ten-man Arsenal stun Villa
Arsenal moved into the top four after a thriller with Villa. John McGinn put Villa ahead in the first half and Arsenal had a mountain to climb when Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent off before the break. Nicolas Pepe got his first goal for Arsenal to equalise but Villa went back ahead a minute later after some brilliant work from Jack Grealish set up Wesley for the goal. Callum Chambers got a second equaliser for the Gunners and then with five minutes left who else but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got the winner with a brilliant free-kick.
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?
Manchester City ran riot against Watford. To run riot is used to describe a team that can not be controlled. Watford couldn’t control City who scored eight goals - City were allowed to run riot.
Manchester City bounced back from defeat against Norwich last week. To bounce back means to recover quickly and usually recover quickly from something that is bad or painful.
Kevin De Bruyne’s goal was the pick of the bunch. This phrase means it was the best goal out of the eight City scored.
Chelsea had a goal ruled out by VAR at the weekend. To rule something out means to stop something from happening.
It wasn’t permitted because it was offside. It was a tight offside decision. If it is a tight decision it means close. Commentators say it when they are not sure if it is offside or not.
Arsenal had a mountain to climb when they were 1-0 down with ten men. This phrase is used when someone has a very difficult task or challenge ahead of them.
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: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Team of the Week: Manchester City
Goal of the Week: Look at the three options from Matchweek 6 and let us know which free-kick was best in the comments section!
Goal 1
Aaron Cresswell for West Ham against Manchester United.
Goal 2
Trent Alexander-Arnold for Liverpool v Chelsea.
Goal 3
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang for Arsenal versus Aston Villa.
The Big Match
Manchester United v Arsenal
The big match this weekend is Manchester United against Arsenal. Rich thinks this will finish in a draw. Do you agree?
What are your predictions? Have a listen to what Rich says and then make your prediction and talk about any of this weekend's matches below.
Football Chat
What do you think?
Jack and Rich have spoken about Matchweek 6 in the Premier League. Now it's your turn! Have a look at the questions and write your answers in the comments section below.
- Rich and Jack chose Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne as Player of the Week. Do you agree?
- Jack and Rich selected Manchester City as their Team of the Week. Do you agree?
- Rich and Jack picked three goals for the Goal of the Week award? Did you see them? Which do you think was best?
- Use this week's vocabulary: Which match was the pick of the bunch in Matchweek 6? Do you think tight decisions should be ruled out by VAR or not?
- Can you use 'bounce back' and 'a mountain climb' in a sentence?
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
13/01/2022
points
Phrases
• In Europe, some extremist offensive groups run riot against vulnerable refugee people.
• In football first five minutes after scoring is described as critical to concede a goal.Opponent team could go back ahead in this period.
• Poverty is a mountain to climb for some people to survive.
13/01/2022 17:39
Tottenham Hotspur
5560
Phrases
• In Europe, some extremist offensive groups run riot against vulnerable refugee people.
• In football first five minutes after scoring is described as critical to concede a goal.Opponent team could go back ahead in this period.
• Poverty is a mountain to climb for some people to survive.
30/09/2019
points
1- Yes I'm agree. He is a great player
2- Manchester city has done a good performance, but I think that Arsenal has done better, so I pick Arsenal this time.
3- I haven't see all the three goals so I can't say which is better
4- I think the Arsenal match is the pick of the bunch of this gameweek. I think that if the tight decision are about offside, it is correct that the VAR ruled out them, instead if they are about game fouls the VAR should not intervene.
5- I have had a mountain to climb replaying your questions without make any mistake, and i'm not sure I have suffexfully done it :-)
30/09/2019 10:58
Liverpool
159
1- Yes I'm agree. He is a great player
2- Manchester city has done a good performance, but I think that Arsenal has done better, so I pick Arsenal this time.
3- I haven't see all the three goals so I can't say which is better
4- I think the Arsenal match is the pick of the bunch of this gameweek. I think that if the tight decision are about offside, it is correct that the VAR ruled out them, instead if they are about game fouls the VAR should not intervene.
5- I have had a mountain to climb replaying your questions without make any mistake, and i'm not sure I have suffexfully done it :-)
29/09/2019
points
1. I will go for Fernandinho as the best player. He was brilliant in his new position as free centre defender.
2. City ran riot against Watford who simply don't believe it untill the referee whistled the end.
3. Alexander-Arnold's was the best I think.
4. City against Watford was the pick of the bunch this week although I liked watching on tv live Arsenal vs Villa.
In my opinion the VAR should be anonymous and not deciding or even asking to the referee to review the action on screen when the decision is not in evidence away off the rules.
5. West Ham bounced back in the table and in the bets after beating Man United.
After their defeat Watford players are in front of a moutain to climb.
29/09/2019 13:06
Manchester City
3988
1. I will go for Fernandinho as the best player. He was brilliant in his new position as free centre defender.
2. City ran riot against Watford who simply don't believe it untill the referee whistled the end.
3. Alexander-Arnold's was the best I think.
4. City against Watford was the pick of the bunch this week although I liked watching on tv live Arsenal vs Villa.
In my opinion the VAR should be anonymous and not deciding or even asking to the referee to review the action on screen when the decision is not in evidence away off the rules.
5. West Ham bounced back in the table and in the bets after beating Man United.
After their defeat Watford players are in front of a moutain to climb.