In this football language post we explain the phrase ‘sweep past another team‘ which is used to describe an easy victory for one team over another side. Don’t forget we have hundreds more explanations of football language in our football glossary and we also have a page full of football cliches. If you have questions or comments about this or any other phrase then email us at: admin@languagecaster.com.
Football Language: Sweep past
If one team easily defeats another team in a game we can say that they have swept past them. Now, if someone sweeps past another person, for example in the street, it suggests that they are more important than the other person and that they are too important to stop and talk to them. There is some sense of this when using this phrase in football as one side clearly is stronger than the other and wants to quickly move on to the next game. It is mostly used to suggest that one side was much better – far superior – than their opponent and they swept past them; they comfortably beat them. We can also use the adverb ‘aside’ with the verb sweep – United swept aside the challenge of Lask Linz in the Europa League and this verbal phrase also suggests that the victory was an easy one; the losing side were well beaten.
Example:A Jesus ensures stylish Manchester City sweep past blundering Real Madrid (Guardian, August 2020)
Example:A ‘It felt like training’ says Mata as Manchester United sweep past LASK Linz (Eurosport, August 2020).
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