Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Premier League in England went goal crazy last weekend, including two games with eight goals each. In the top league in Turkey a coach does a Brian Clough and punches a pitch invader. You can listen to these and other stories on our weekly podcast.
Good
It was good for fans of the Premier League last week as they were treated to a feast of goals – 43 goals in ten games. But it wasn’t only goals that provided the entertainment. Newcastle pulled off one of the greatest comebacks of recent history: 4-0 down with twenty minutes to go they somehow managed to score four, two via the spot, to claim a dramatic draw. In other games league leaders, Manchester United were laid low by bottom placed Wolverhampton Wanderers with a winner from Kevin Nolan. And finally there was more drama as Liverpool, so long in the doldrums and facing the debut of their former hero Fernando Torres, stunned Chelsea 1-0 to silence the Shed End and make it four wins and four clean sheets on the trot.
Bad
Bad for Tottenham’s bosses as it looks like West Ham UnitedA will be given the keys to the 2012 Olympic stadium when the dust has settled after the world’s second most popular competition is over (of course, the World Cup is the most important!). The Olympic Park Legacy Company were swayed by the Hammers’ proposal to keep the running track for the 60,000-seater venue. While it wasn’t good for the money men at Spurs, it was good for their fans, including Damian, (listen to and read his post from last month) who appear mainly to be against any move from their traditional support base.
Ugly
It’s never nice to see fans running on the pitch, but it the manager of Turkish Super Lig side Ankaragucu knows how to deal with the situation. When one of his side’s fans ran on to the pitch after Ankaragucu equalised, Umit Ozat threw his clipboard at him. The angry fan then attempted to do a flying kick at the coach, but before his kick landed Ozat saw red and punched the fan with a sweet right and knocked him to the ground. Ugly scenes but you’ve got to say the fan had it coming!
Vocabulary
a feast of goals: a lot of goals, an unusually large number of goals
pull off: succeed in something (usually difficult or dramatic)
lay low: defeat, beat, knock down
in the doldrums: in a bad run of form, not playing well, depressed
a clean sheet: when a team does not concede a goal, they have a clean sheet
the Shed End: the area of Stamford Bridge, Chelsea FC’s home ground, where the most vocal home fans sit
be given the keys: given ownership of something, allowed to take control
when the dust has settled: when things become calm, when the excitement is finished
see red: get angry, lose control, become violent
have it coming: deserve something (usually something bad), in this case the fan had it (the punch) coming because he ran on to the pitch
