In this football language post for learners of English we look at the football expression ‘routine victory/routine win‘ which is used to describe a comfortable win. You can also read the transcript for this post below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.
Football Language: Routine Victory
The adjective ‘routine‘ describes something that is done on a regular basis. In football, a routine win or a routine victory describes a win that is expected; so we are not surprised that the winning team (the victorious team) has won. Maybe this is due to the fact that they regularly win – they are used to winning so we are not surprised by the victory. The phrase is mainly used to describe the performance; it was comfortable or easy for the winners. In the first of the examples below, Barcelona easily defeated Elche 3-0 – it was easy for them as their opponents had a player sent off in the first half, so Barca cruised to victory – they were not troubled or did not have to work too hard to win.
- Example: …it proved a routine victory for Xavi’s side, with 25 efforts on goal to Elche’s one (BBC.co.uk, Sep 18 2022)
- Example: Jota helps get Celtic off to winning start with routine victory over Aberdeen (FourFourTwo.com August 2022)
- Example: Cristiano Ronaldo ensured he kept up one of his many remarkable goalscoring records with a well-taken penalty for Manchester United in their routine victory over Sheriff Tiraspol (Mirror.co.uk, 15 September 2022)
A Related Vocabulary
Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills
