Learn English Through Football Podcast: Flicked finish

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:50 — 11.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Podchaser | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | Youtube Music | RSS | More

Learn English Through Football Podcast: Flicked finish

In this week’s football-language podcast we look back at a phrase from this weekend’s FA Cup final in England between Manchester City and Chelsea: Flicked finish. We will also look at some predictions from some more big games this weekend including West Ham travelling to Newcastle and Arsenal hosting Burnley. You can read the transcript for this podcast 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 about the phrase or our podcast then you can contact us here.

Hello

DF: You’re listening to the Learn English through Football Podcast.

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well. This is Damian from the Learn English through Football Podcast team and I am based here in London the day after the English FA Cup final which saw Manchester City beat Chelsea to complete a domestic cup double. Now, it’s just me today as Damon, the other member of the Learn English through Football Podcast team is busy in Tokyo.

We have been talking about the business end of the season in recent weeks; so in addition to City winning the FA Cup, we have also seen Celtic beat Hearts in a winner-takes-all game to win their 56th Scottish title. What a pity for Hearts who have not won the league in over 60 years but what drama there was at the end of the game. Barcelona won el clasico last week – they had already won their 29th league title with three games remaining in the season. Inter won the double in Italy after defeating Lazio in the Coppa Italia final this week, while Bayern Munich and Porto have also wrapped up the title in recent weeks in Germany and Portugal. Oh and don’t forget PSG beat Lens to win the French title as well.

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Vietnamese)

Today’s Show

Let’s take a look at what we will cover in today’s show. First up, we will look at the phrase, ‘domestic double‘ after City’s FA Cup win yesterday. And after that we will look at some of the language that emerged from that FA Cup final, including words and phrases to describe the winning goal. We will then look at a couple of Premier League games and try and predict the results, including one that affects the relegation battle in England.

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Dutch)

Domestic (Cup) Double

Right, let’s start with a phrase that was used quite a lot yesterday in England after the FA Cup final win for Manchester City: domestic double. We know that double refers to something to do with two different parts or to have twice as much of something. So sometimes if a player scores two goals we can say that they have a double (or a brace). To do the double over another team means to beat a team twice in the same season, while to double a team’s advantage is to increase their lead in the table from one to two or two to four points.

A domestic double is when a team wins two competitions in their own country – this is usually the league and the cup. But England has three domestic competitions: The Premier League title; the FA Cup and the League Cup (or the Carabao Cup). Manchester City this season have won the Carabao Cup against Arsenal and the FA Cup against Chelsea so they have won the domestic double. But as they have not won the league we can adjust it slightly to say that they have won the domestic cup double. Of course, City still have a chance to win the Premier League so they could win a treble and that, of course, is three different trophies!

• Do the double over
• Score a double
• Win (Do) the double
• Double their advantage

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in French)

DF: OK, what language do you think that was in? And we will have more messages or stingers in different languages throughout the show explaining who we are. So, it would be great if you could send us a message like that saying, ‘You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast‘ in your language, or maybe you could add your name and which team you support as well – it’s up to you. But we’d be really happy to hear from you. Just send it on to: contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com.

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Polish)

Flicked finish

Embed from Getty Images
DF: Right, next up we are going to take a look at some of the language to describe the FA Cup-winning goal yesterday.

So, Antoine Semenyo scored the winning goal in this season’s FA Cup final. For many it was the best moment or highlight of the game which had been rather boring until then. Many newspapers and TV pundits used the word ‘flick‘ to describe the goal. A flick in football refers to a soft touch with either the foot or the head to re-direct the ball or divert the ball in a different direction. We have explained the phrase flick on before and this means to move on the ball in a slight or indirect way – maybe with a back heel, a touch with the foot or a glancing header.

So, to score a goal with a flick suggests that the player has re-directed the ball and in this game Semenyo scored with a flick – he finished with a flick; a flicked finish. So, he was being marked tightly by the Chelsea defender and the pass from his team mate Erling Haaland was a little behind him but he was still able to divert the pass into the net by flicking it with his foot. It was an amazing goal – or finish – and so we can say that he scored with a flicked finish.

Here are a couple of examples from the press afetrwards. The first one is from the Guardian.

• Example: When the ball came, it was also a little bit behind him. No matter. Semenyo let his instincts take over and the result was a scintillating flick with his trailing leg that diverted the ball perfectly into the far corner (Guardian.co.uk, May 17 2026)

Scintillating here means something really special.

Here’s the second one from the BBC:

• Example: …Semenyo met on the run with a perfect right-foot flick across Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez (BBC.co.uk May 17 2026)

So, well done to Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo for his brilliant goal; his brilliant flicked finish.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Korean)  

Predictions

DF: OK, it’s time for our predictions – just two today and both from the Premier League.

Premier League: Newcastle v West Ham 

DF: Right, this game is very much to do with the relegation battle in England as West Ham travel to Newcastle. And the home side have very little to play for but West Ham will be hoping for three points to move out of the bottom three. Now, as a Spurs fan I am hoping that Newcastle win this so that West Ham do not leapfrog us out of the relegation zone and into safety. But I am not sure this will happen – I think West Ham will get something from this and put more pressure on my team Tottenham: 2-1 to West Ham.

Premier League: Arsenal v Burnley

DF: So, on Monday Arsenal host already-relegated Burnley and this should be an easy victory for the title-chasing Gunners. I am going for a 3-0 home win.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Greek)  

DF: What did you think of those predictions? Do you think West Ham will get something from their game? How about the Arsenal game; what are you going for?

And don’t forget to come along to any of our social media sites – you can find us on Facebook; YouTube; X; Instagram and many more.

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.com (in Bemba from Zambia)

Contact

And don’t forget that if you want to get in contact with us with a football-language question or you have a comment on our show, then we’d love to hear from you. You can do this by coming along to our forum or by writing to us at: contact@learnenglishthroughfootball.com.

And if you come along to our website you can check out our huge glossary of football terms, expressions, phrases and clichés about the beautiful game of football. Make sure that you give us a like on your favourite podcast or social media platform and tell your friends about us. We really appreciate your support – thank you indeed.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Welsh) 

DF: Yes, that message was in Welsh and were you able to recognise any of the other languages from the show? Remember that the stingers say ‘you are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast or Languagecaster as we used to be known. First up we had Vietnamese, then we heard Dutch, French, Greek, Korean and Bemba from Zambia. So, well done if you recognised any of those languages and, as we said before, we’d love to hear from you if you’d like to record one in any language that you know.

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast. 

Goodbye

DF: Thank you everyone again for listening. This week we have looked at the phrase, ‘to do the domestic cup double‘ after Manchester City’s win at Wembley. We also explained the phrase, ‘flicked finish‘ after the winning goal from Antoine Semenyo. Do you know any other words or phrases that also explain this kind of goal? And how about in another language that you know?

Enjoy all the football this week – the Europa League final takes place as well as some huge matches at the top and the bottom of the Premier League. See you early next week when we will have another football expression. Until then, bye bye.

Related Links

Learn English Through Football Podcast

Damon Brewster and Damian Fitzpatrick

Learn English Through Football Podcast: A show for football fans to improve their English language skills

Apple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicAndroidPodchaserby EmailTuneInDeezerYoutube MusicRSS