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.

This week, I’m talking about two matches. When I watch the matches, I make notes about the language I hear in the commentary and it’s just so rich that I can’t help myself... There's just too much to talk about. Yesterday, I published a podcast about Leicester City hosting Brighton and Hove Albion and today, I’m going to talk about Bournemouth’s match against Nottingham forest.

Football phrase

Last week, there were three football phrases. I went through the answers to two of them yesterday, but there was one more. I’m going to give you the answer, but first, here’s one more chance to guess.

The football phrase was ******. This is a type of kick which is when a player kicks a ball that is passed to them before the ball hits the ground. If a player tries to shoot with a ******, the shot is often very powerful, but can be harder to control.

Congratulations to Denis2000 from Belarus, Oselfa from Spain, welcome to Premier Skills English Oselfa. Congratulations to Hasan from Turkey, Cezario Abrantes from Brazil, Fabs17 from Italy, Chen Mang Tso from Taiwan, Vietnguyenngo from Vietnam, Taha Gashout from Libya and Robackpacker from Romania.

You all worked out that the word I was looking for was volley.

Now it’s time for me to get on with this week’s story about last weekend’s action at the Vitality Stadium. The words and phrases from the story that I want you to listen out for are: undone, to come to the rescue, to be let off, to intercept, to catch someone napping, top drawer, inch perfect and to break someone’s heart.

Breaking Bournemouth hearts

The Vitality Stadium was buzzing with excitement on Saturday despite the recent form of the home team.

After 13 minutes, the atmosphere almost changed when Bournemouth were undone by a set piece. Ryan Yates scored with a header from the centre of the box. And then, VAR came to the rescue as in the lead up, Willy Boly was caught offside and the Cherries were let off.

Jordan Zemura was making arun when he was intercepted and the ball went out of play. Zemura took a quick throw in and the speed of the restart caught Forest napping. Zemura’s cross was perfectly placed for Kieffer Moore who really should have put it away. Instead, somehow, from close range, he headed the ball over the bar.

The Cherries were looking more dangerous and fans didn't have long to wait for them to break through. The hosts scored their first league goal since the World Cup break off an excellent run and pass by their new signing Dango Outarra. Jaidon Anthony received the ball and showed top drawer composure when he defeated the keeper with an inch perfect finish.

Forest were desperately looking for an equaliser and had some good chances but hadn’t put together anything to trouble the Bournemouth keeper until a poor clearance turned out to be a gift for Gibbs-White who found Brennan Johnson on a run. As Johnson got closer to the goal line, the angle became more acute. Johnson was left with nothing but to cross the ball over the mouth of the goal. Fortunately, Sam Surridge was running in. The former Bournemouth man Sam Surridge broke Cherries’ hearts when he popped the ball into the net.

Final score: AFC Bournemouth 1 - Nottingham Forest 1

The words and phrases from the story that I want to talk about are: undone, to come to the rescue, to be let off, to intercept, to catch someone napping, top drawer, inch perfect and to break someone’s heart.

The adjective undone usually means unfastened and is used for things with fasteners. Buttons and toggles on clothes and clips on bags that hold things closed are fasteners; they hold things fast, which means they can’t move. If something is undone, that’s the opposite of done up. So a button might be undone. On hot days, you will see lots of people with the top buttons on their shirts undone.

That’s not the meaning from the story but it’s related, figuratively. I didn’t know this but this is another word that’s mainly British English. Undone can mean ruined or destroyed. I think it’s most commonly used to talk about complex plans that are tightly planned and fixed. When these plans are disrupted, we can say that the plans are undone. If a person is undone, it normally means they are stopped from doing what they want to do and are really unhappy about it. I said that Bournemouth were undone by a set piece. This means their carefully planned defence was broken and their plans did not work out.

Now, Bournemouth were not completely undone by this set piece because a VAR review confirmed that a player had been offside. I said that VAR came to the rescue. If someone comes to the rescue, they arrive at the right time to help someone out of a bad situation. So if you are driving, way out in the country and your car breaks down, you are in a bad situation. If a passing mechanic stops to help you, you could say that they have come to the rescue. Bournemouth appeared to be a goal down, which is a bad situation. The VAR review came to the rescue and revealed the offside and the goal was ruled out.

I said that the Cherries were let off. Normally, to let someone off means to not punish them as much as they deserve. So if you drive your car too fast, the police should give you a ticket, but sometimes they let you off with a warning. You don’t get the punishment you deserve, you are let off. Bournemouth’s defence at the set piece failed so when Forest scored, they probably deserved to be a goal down, but when VAR revealed a player had been offside, they were let off.

To intercept means to stop and catch someone or something when they are on the way somewhere, before they are able to get where they want to go. Outside of football, I think that you’re most likely to hear the word in stories about the police. When criminals are going to rob a bank, the police might intercept them on the way. Or if someone sends an illegal package, the police might intercept the package before it gets to the person the criminal was sending it to. In football English, it’s clear. When the ball is passed, if an opponent gets there first and stops it from getting to the person that the ball was passed to, then you could say that they intercepted the ball.

The next idiom is to catch someone napping. I like this phrase because its literal meaning is a bit funny. Napping means sleeping. If someone falls asleep when they are supposed to be working, you might literally catch them napping. We use the idiom when something happens that a person is not prepared for. I think it’s most commonly used when talking about sports. So during the match, Zemura had a throw in and he did it so quickly that Forest were not prepared and they were very lucky not to have conceded a goal.

I said that Jaidon Antony showed top drawer composure. Top drawer means very high quality. This is quite an old phrase that comes from a piece of furniture. In a chest of drawers, that’s the furniture with three or more drawers that people normally store clothes in, the top drawer was the one that people would put their most valuable clothes and jewellery in. So the phrase top drawer came to be used to refer to things that were the most valuable or the best quality.

Jaidon Antony’s shot was inch perfect. This means it was very accurate. An inch is a measurement of distance. It’s about 2.5 centimetres, so it’s not very far. If a shot is inch perfect, it is within an inch of the target, of the exact centre of the target. So for a footballer to score with an inch perfect shot, is pretty impressive.

The last phrase I want to talk about today is to break someone’s heart. I think that this is an idiom that translates into almost every language in the world. It means to make someone really sad. Normally, this is related to romance. If you love someone and they tell you they don’t love you, that might break your heart. If the person you are in love with leaves you to start a relationship with someone else, that might break your heart. Football fans love their teams so when a player leaves, that might break their hearts. If they leave to play for a rival, that might break their hearts. So when Sam Surridge left Bournemouth, joined a rival club and then came back and scored against them, that really must have broken some hearts.

OK. That's eight words and phrases today. The words and phrases from the story were: undone, to come to the rescue, to be let off, to intercept, to catch someone napping, top drawer, inch perfect and to break someone’s heart.

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

Breaking Bournemouth hearts

The Vitality Stadium was buzzing with excitement on Saturday despite the recent form of the home team.

After 13 minutes, the atmosphere almost changed when Bournemouth were undone by a set piece. Ryan Yates scored with a header from the centre of the box. And then, VAR came to the rescue as in the lead up, Willy Boly was caught offside and the Cherries were let off.

Jordan Zemura was making arun when he was intercepted and the ball went out of play. Zemura took a quick throw in and the speed of the restart caught Forest napping. Zemura’s cross was perfectly placed for Kieffer Moore who really should have put it away. Instead, somehow, from close range, he headed the ball over the bar.

The Cherries were looking more dangerous and fans didn't have long to wait for them to break through. The hosts scored their first league goal since the World Cup break off an excellent run and pass by their new signing Dango Outarra. Jaidon Anthony received the ball and showed top drawer composure when he defeated the keeper with an inch perfect finish.

Forest were desperately looking for an equaliser and had some good chances but hadn’t put together anything to trouble the Bournemouth keeper until a poor clearance turned out to be a gift for Gibbs-White who found Brennan Johnson on a run. As Johnson got closer to the goal line, the angle became more acute. Johnson was left with nothing but to cross the ball over the mouth of the goal. Fortunately, Sam Surridge was running in. The former Bournemouth man Sam Surridge broke Cherries’ hearts when he popped the ball into the net.

Final score: AFC Bournemouth 1 - Nottingham Forest 1

Language Challenge

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

Your challenge this week is to complete the gaps in the following sentences with the correct form of the words from the podcast. I have taken these examples directly from news websites and only edited them slightly to make them clearer.

Number 1. A police dog was caught stealing an officer’s lunch. However, the veteran dog was ________ when the story was shared on social media and the dog won the support of hundreds of followers.

Number 2. Ferguson turns and bursts into space centrally while March advances between the defenders. The through ball is ____________ for March to collect on the run.

Number 3. Manchester United travelled to North London desperate for a win. But with the score level at 2-2 late on, Gunners striker Eddie Nketiah ______________ with a last-gasp winner.

Number 4. Cate Blanchett is starring in a film about a conductor coming ___________ because of the pressure of the job.

Number 5. Customs officials __________ thousands of letters containing illegal drugs last year.

Number 6. Grantham were ________________ straight after the restart with another chance falling to the home striker, but his low effort was saved well by the feet of Bexon in the goal.

Number 7. The golf course has a very friendly atmosphere with a ____________ clubhouse offering plenty of food options and drinks.

Number 8. Firefighters in Britain ________________ of a bull that slipped down an embankment and became stranded in a river.

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

Task

Your task this week is to share your stories about a time when you were a hero or heroine and came to someone’s rescue or a time when you needed a hero or heroine and someone came to your rescue.

Share your ideas in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Football Phrase

Now it’s time for today’s football phrase.

Today’s football phrase is a really easy one. It’s the word for a goal that puts the scores level. If your team is behind, it’s a great feeling when someone scores an *********. It brings the whole game to life again and fills fans with hope.

If you know the answer, be sure to leave it in a comment on the page for this podcast on Premier Skills English.

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 all of you stay fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.