To clear the ball means to hit the ball away from the danger area (your goal or penalty area)

Posted by: @dwi

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What is the meaning of "clear" in football?

78 mins, Everton 1-2 Manchester UnitedGray gets a low cross into the box from the left, but Casemiro makes a cool interception and gets it clear.

• In this example, 'it' refers to the ball so Casemiro moves the ball away from danger. To get it clear/To clear the ball (it)

54 min: England try to respond immediately. Shaw crosses from the left. The ball hits Raum, off the chest of Bellingham. Sule batters clear. England claim a penalty, but Raum taps his head … and he’s right. It was a clear header. A desperate shout by England.

• Two different meanings here. The first one is similar to the example above - to move the ball away from danger though in this example Sule clears the ball a long way - he hits it (the ball) really hard (batter)
• The second example is different. A clear header means that the player has a good chance - it is not such a difficult chance (a clear header).

GOAL Crystal Palace 0-4 Spurs (73 mins)
Things get even better for Spurs, as Son Heung-min races clear into the Crystal Palace half and hits a left-footed shot into the bottom corner

• If a player races clear it means they are not near any defenders - they are free and have space to attack. To race clear means to move quickly away from the defence. 

Crystal Palace 0-1 Man Utd
48. Olise takes the free kick, bending one into the box. Weghorst heads the ball clear.

• This means to clear the ball with a header - maybe the free kick went high into the penalty area and the defender headed it away / headed it clear.

Luciano Spalletti's side are nine points clear at the top of Serie A, having thumped third-placed Juventus 5-1 on Friday.

• To be clear at the top of the table means that a team is leading by more than a couple of points. They are at least more than 4 points ahead - they are clear at the top. Napoli are nine points clear means they are leading by nine points/they are nine points ahead of the next team.

Arsenal dispatched Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in a one-sided North London Derby and went eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

• This is the same as the previous example

2 min: Liverpool 0-0 Wolves
Blimey that was close! Wolves centreback Toti flies out and clips an onrushing Mohamed Salah's feet from under him. A clear freekick just was just outside the box.

• A clear free kick means that there is no discussion about the free kick. The defender fouled the attacker and so it is a clear foul which leads to a clear free kick.

32' Humphreys with a driving run before trying a through ball to Davis, but a Millers defender slides and clears the danger.

• This is similar to the earlier examples and means that the dfender has moved the ball away from the dangerous areas of the pitch (ie near their goal).

Derby County vs Barnsley Sibley sends a dangerous cross into the box and Barnsley struggle to clear their lines.

• This is another expression that means to clear the ball away. i am not sure why we use 'lines' - maybe these refer to the lines on the pitch around the penalty area?

GOOOALLL! Incredible, Chelsea go up the other end of the pitch and Malouda makes it 4-1! Malouda is sent clear on goal. He shoots and Fabianski parries, but only to Anelka who shoots but hits the post! However, the ball rebounds kindly back to an offside Malouda to slot home.

• This is similar to the expression about Son racing clear - it means that someone has passed the ball to Malouda who is in space - he has been sent clear also suggests he is running towards the goal and has no defenders near him.