Football Phrase of the Week: Hang on for a win

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Football Phrase of the Week: Hang on for a win

In this football phrase of the week we look at the phrase, ‘to hang on for a win‘ from the Manchester City win at Tottenham last week. 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 then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com.

Hang on for a win

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DF: Hello everyone. This is Damian from the Languagecaster team and I hope you are all doing well. Welcome to another weekly football phrase which is when we look back at some of the language from the world of football. So, in this week’s football phrase we explain the expression, ‘hang on for a win‘ from the recent Manchester City win at Tottenham.

DF: Manchester City started the game really well against a very young and inexperienced Tottenham side and went into the half-time break with a 1-0 lead though most pundits and fans felt that they should have scored more; they should have been further ahead. But in the second half Spurs hit back and created many chances to equalise and by the end of the game City were hanging on to their lead.

Now, to hang on to something is an expression that means you have to work really hard to keep or to hold on to something; you can’t let go of it. So, in football this phrase is often used to describe a hard-fought win when a team is winning in a game but has to work really hard to keep that lead.

So, in the Tottenham-Manchester City game, City were leading but they had to work really hard to maintain this lead as Spurs pressed for an equaliser in the second half. Although they were winning 1-0, they were no longer comfortable and they only just held on for the victory; they held on for the three points.

Now, some people felt that this was a game of two halves with one side, Manchester City, playing really well in the first half and then the other side, Tottenham, playing well in the second half. Unfortunately for Spurs they were not able to grab an equaliser so I wonder if it really was a game of two halves!

• Example: Erling Haaland scored on his return to action as Manchester City held on for victory against Tottenham Hotspur to improve their hopes of a top-four finish. (BBC.co.uk Febryary 27 2025)
• Example: Park grabs winner as England (Lionesses) hold on for Nations League victory over Spain (Guardian.co.uk February 27 2025)

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Can you think of any more examples like this? And how would you say this expression, ‘to hang on for a win‘ or a ‘game of two halves‘ in another language that you know? Let us know by dropping us a line at admin@languagecaster.com.

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Yes, that message was in Spanish. Enjoy all the football and we’ll see you again later on in the week in our regular weekly podcast show when we’ll be looking ahead to the weekend’s fixtures and explaining more football language. Bye bye.

Related Terms

Football Language Glossary