Football Language: Scoreless Draw

This week in their Champions League group match, London team Tottenham drew 0-0 with German side Bayer Leverkusen. When both teams fail to score in a game there are different ways to describe this result, including nil-nil and the phrase scoreless draw. If a game ends in a draw then we can describe it as a score draw – the opposite of a scoreless draw. Despite having no goals, some scoreless draws can be very exciting games and in this week’s Champions League game between Spurs and Bayer Leverkusen a combination of great saves from both goalkeepers, poor finishing and some bad luck meant that even though it finished 0-0, this scoreless draw was not a dull affair.
- Example: Spurs hung on for a scoreless draw in Germany.
- Example: The two sides played out a dull scoreless draw.