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聞きながら読むことは、英語を向上させる強力な方法です。
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Each week, you’ll get a free PDF of the script sent to your inbox! It will be in English and Japanese.
This week, I’ll put the English only transcript here as a blogpost. Sign up to get the Japanese translation and other notes, or download for free this week only here! The PDF looks a lot nicer than this rather bare post!
Episode 1: Man City vs. Arsenal
3rd April 2024
Contents (English only)
- Transcript: Introduction 0:00-1:35
- Match Focus 1:35-6:42
- Results Round-up 6:42-7:27
- English Focus 7:27-10:10
- The Week Ahead 10:00-10:44
- Outro 10:44
Transcript
Here is the transcript in English.
Introduction 0:00 – 1:35
Are you learning English? Do you love soccer? Then this is the podcast for you. Welcome to The Soccer English Podcast.
Hello and welcome to episode 1 of The Soccer English Podcast. My name is Aidan, I’m an English teacher and soccer fan, and we’re going to talk about the last 10 games of the English Premier League season 2023/24, and learn about the English used in the soccer world because it’s probably not in your textbooks!
This year is very, very exciting. There are three strong teams who can win the Premier League, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City. Before this weekend, Arsenal and Liverpool were top of the table with 64 points, and City were close behind with 63 points.
In Sunday’s early game Liverpool beat Brighton 2-1, so they were top of the league before the big match this weekend, Manchester City vs. Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
Match Focus 1:35 – 6:42
Manchester City are very strong at home. They haven’t lost there since November 2022! Arsenal usually lose at Man City’s stadium, and last year they lost heavily. So, this time, it was important for Arsenal to play well.
| at home = when they play in the stadium the club owns |
Both teams had injuries before the game. For Manchester City, Kyle Walker and goalkeeper Ederson were out, but John Stones was on the bench. For Arsenal, Martinelli was on the bench but Saka and Gabriel were able to start.
The result was nil-nil, and many people said it was a boring game. I’m an Arsenal fan, so for me it wasn’t boring at all! It was a very cagey game, but I enjoyed it.
| cagey = both teams are playing with great caution because they’re afraid of losing. |
Manchester City are an amazing team. They have so many great players. I think Arsenal did well to get a draw. Their defenders played brilliantly, and William Saliba was Man of the Match.
Nathan Ake had a great chance from a corner kick in the 15th minute. I think Ake was surprised the ball hit him! He should have scored, but he hit the goalkeeper. This was their best chance, even though Arsenal had to defend for most of the match.
Ake got injured later in the game and was replaced by young Rico Lewis. He’s only 19 years old but is already so, so good.
It was Man City’s attack versus Arsenal’s defence, but Arsenal were able to counterattack at times.
At half time, Man City had had about 70% of possession, but Arsenal had had more shots than City.
| at times = similar to ‘sometimes’ |
The second half was similar to the first half. City had more of the ball, but there weren’t many chances for either team.
I think Saliba and Gabriel won their battle with Erling Haaland. It was a good fight, but it was difficult for the Norwegian striker. Also, Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden were very quiet. They’re great players so I was waiting for them to do something special, but they didn’t, and Arsenal defended very well.
Even when City manager Pep Guardiola made a double substitution, sending on two attacking players in Doku and Grealish, Arsenal stayed strong.
| make a double substitution = send two players onto the field, replacing two other players |
Man City’s passing seemed better than Arsenal’s. Raya had some very bad kicks, and Declan Rice’s corners weren’t very good.
Arsenal’s weakest point was the left back, Kiwior. Man City attacked on his side a lot. He’s usually a centre back, and he lost the ball a few times. He was replaced by Tomiyasu in the 65th minute.
Near the end, Trossard had a great opportunity to pass to Martinelli, but he shot instead and the goalkeeper saved it. At the other end, Haaland seemed to forget how to kick a ball, so the game finished nil-nil.
The referee had an interesting game. He didn’t give any yellow cards until the 67th minute, and some Manchester City fans are pretty angry about that. I think Arsenal were lucky. They probably should have had four or five yellow cards. For example, in the 3rd minute, Gabriel Jesus fouled Bernardo Silva. Usually this kind of foul is a yellow card.
This was not a classic game. It was very tight, and either side could have won it. I think Arsenal will be happier than Man City. The happiest team, though, is Liverpool. They are now top of the Premier League on 67 points, with Arsenal 2nd on 65 and Manchester City 3rd on 64.
| a tight game = a close game; almost equal |
Results Round-up 6:42 – 7:27
Let’s look at some other results from the Premier League.
On Saturday, Newcastle United beat West Ham United 4-3 in a great game, and Tottenham came from behind to beat Luton Town 2-1. More bad news for Chelsea and Manchester United fans. Their teams were terrible again! Brentford had 31 shots against Man Utd! Oh dear!
| came from behind = win a game when you were losing before |
| terrible = very, very bad |
English Focus 7:27 – 10:10
“What a goal!”
You’ll often hear this phrase when an amazing goal is scored. It means, ‘That goal was amazing!’ or, ‘That’s a great goal!’ My favourite goal this week was Danny Welbeck’s strike for Brighton vs. Liverpool. It’s great to see him still playing at a high level. What a goal!
| a strike = a shot |
We can use this phrase for other things too, not only goals. We use it when something is very good or very bad. Let’s look at some examples.
[ What + a + noun ]
When a team has played well, you might hear, “What a performance!”
For example, “What a performance from Brentford today”.
Goalkeepers are strange people, but sometimes they’re useful, and they make important saves. If the save was very difficult, you might hear the commentator say:
“What a save!”
Have you seen the save by Verbruggen for Brighton vs. Liverpool? What a save.
For defenders, you might hear, “What a tackle!” when they make a very good tackle. For example, Akanji’s tackle on Odegard for Man City against Arsenal. What a tackle!
And when a player doesn’t score when he really should do, you might hear, “What a miss!”
You’ll often hear this phrase with an adjective. For example: “What an amazing goal!” “What a terrible miss…”
When you talk about this podcast, you can say “What an amazing podcast!” 🙂
The Week Ahead 10:10 – 10:44
There are midweek games this week. I’m really looking forward to Chelsea vs. Man United on Thursday.
Both teams are having bad seasons, so it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
| to come out on top = to win |
Manchester City vs. Aston Villa could be exciting, too. When these teams played each other in December, Aston Villa surprised everybody and won!
Outro 10:44 – finish
So, what was your favourite football moment of the weekend? Let us know by writing a comment at languagecrab.com/podcasts . And don’t forget to sign-up by e-mail to get next week’s transcript before the podcast comes out next week.
That’s all for now. Ba-bye!
See you at www.languagecrab.com
