In this post, we explain the football phrase ‘To hand a team a defeat’.
- Find out more about this phrase by reading the transcript below.
- You can also find many more examples of soccer vocabulary by going to our football cliches page here and our huge football glossary here.
Football Language: To hand a team a defeat
When a team defeats an opponent you will sometimes hear or read that they have handed a team a defeat, as in Tottenham handed Manchester United a second defeat in a row, which means that Manchester United have a lost for the second time in succession. The phrase is often used with numbers so for instance, West Ham were handed a third defeat in a row or Real Madrid handed Sevilla a second defeat of the season are heard quite commonly. To hand a team a defeat.
Example: Kilmarnock hand Celtic second domestic defeat under Rodgers (BBC, Feb 4th 2018)
