What is the meaning of "pinch" in football?
Spurs 2-1 Leicester (38 mins)
Leicester pinch the ball high, nipping in to intercept from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as the Spurs number five dithered in possession.
Mings produced a brilliant piece of defending in added time to prevent substitute Salomón Rondón from pinching an equaliser for the visitors.
City had their own script in mind. Just as they had in 2012, when they needed two goals in stoppage time to pinch the title from Manchester United against Queens Park Rangers.
Premier League pundit Stephen Warnock:
"The ball gets pinched and it's a 3 v 2 situation for Manchester United. Look at the space Fernandes has, and does Danny Ward have to come? I don't think he does, and he makes up Jadon Sancho's mind for him. But lovely feet from the Manchester United winger, and it's a lovely finish as well from that angle."
To pinch here suggests that something has been taken from the opposition - to pinch something would mean to steal something from someone. So, if a team pinches an equaliser it probably means that they did not really deserve the equaliser; maybe they didn't play so well but they still managed to get a draw.
To pinch the ball means that one player has taken the ball from another one (tackled them) but it suggests that they have done this in a rather subtle way. Maybe they have come from behind the player to take the ball away from the oponent without them knowing they were coming?
- In the first example above, the writer goes on to say that Leicester won the ball by intercepting it - they quickly won the ball back (nipped in).
- The second example explains that Milner's tackle stopped Rondon from equalising which would not have been deserved.
- The third example shows that City took the title from United in the last moments of the season suggesting that they won it when no one expected them to do so.
- The final example also shows the meaning of 'stealing' the ball from the opposition - in this case to set up a quick attack (counter attack)
Thanks a lot for the explanation, Damian.
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