On this week’s review section we look back at some of the first games of the Spanish and English seasons and wonder what is happening in Paris. You can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.
Good
A good weekend in the Premier League for both Fulham and Swansea as they opened their 2012-13 campaigns with a pair of convincing 5-0 thrashings – against Norwich and QPR respectively. While in La Liga Barcelona and Betis also hit five in their wins against Real Sociedad and Bilbao.
Bad
It has not been a good start to the French season for big-spending Paris Saint Germain as they drew their second game in a row, this time a scoreless affair against lowly Ajaccio. That’s no wins from two games for the team from the French capital despite spending nearly 100 million Euros in the close season.
Ugly
After warning his players to behave more like the Olympic athletes, Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew found himself in hot water with the English authorities after he pushed the assistant referee in his side’s win at home to Spurs. Pardew tried to laugh it off but he needs to practice what he preaches.
Vocabulary
thrashing: winning by a large number of goals
big-spending: a club that has used a lot of money to buy new players
in a row: one after another; in succession
scoreless affair: a match with no goals
lowly: a small club; a team in the bottom half of the division
the close season: (pronounced ‘cloze’) when no official matches are played; between the end and the start of the league
be in hot water: be in trouble; have a problem with the games administrators
laugh it off: pretend it was a joke; say that it wasn’t serious
practice what you preach: do what you say; act in a way that reflects what you say
