In this week’s football review we applaud West Ham, sympathise with Petr Cech and wonder what’s going on at Marseille. To help with understanding you can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.This week’s football review – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: West Ham, Cech and Marseille
Good
The 2015-16 Premier League kicked off this weekend and perhaps the pick of the results was West Ham’s 2-0 victory over powerhouse Arsenal at the Emirates. It was the first time the East London side had won at their North London rivals since 2007 and it came after two very different pre-season campaigns with Arsenal winning all of their games and West Ham being dumped out of the Europa League at the qualifying stage. West Ham take on Leicester City next in a battle between two sides at the top of the table.
Bad
Many pundits had seen the signing of goalkeeper Petr Cech as an important piece in Arsenal’s title challenge – he would be the man to organise and calm the Gunners’ defence. However, the Czech international, who moved from Chelsea in the close season, was at fault for both goals in their home defeat to West Ham. Not the best of starts for Arsenal or their goalkeeper.
Ugly
Marseille were beaten at home on the opening day of the Ligue 1 season in France to Caen and then to add insult to injury their manager Marcelo Bielsa resigned after the game. ESPN suggested that the Argentinian had lost all trust with the club and left immediately after the home defeat. A bad start to the season for Marseille.
Vocabulary
kicked off: Started
the pick of the results: The standout result; the one result that everyone noticed
powerhouse: A big team; one that usually does well
the Emirates: The name of the home stadium of Arsenal
being dumped out of: Being knocked out of (probably by a weaker side on paper)
pundits: Football experts
the Gunners: Arsenal’s nickname
the close season: The period when no league games take place – usually between June and August in Europe
at fault for: He was to blame for
to add insult to injury: To make things worse
resigned: He left his position
