Hearts Stay First in the League

May 9, 2026, 22:50

Introduction

Hearts played Motherwell. The game ended 1-1. Hearts are still the best team in the league, but some players are hurt.

Main Body

Hearts played a game at Fir Park. They scored a goal against their own team first. Then Lawrence Shankland scored a goal. The referee did not give a penalty. One manager was angry, but the other manager was happy. Two players, Craig Halkett and Marc Leonard, have bad leg injuries. They cannot play for the rest of the year. The team must change their plan now. Hearts want to win the league for the first time since 1960. Celtic and Rangers also want to win. Celtic is four points behind Hearts. If Celtic beats Rangers, they will be very close to Hearts. Rangers are in third place. They want to play in the Champions League.

Conclusion

Hearts are still the leaders. Now they must play without their hurt players and wait for the Celtic and Rangers game.

Learning

⚽ The "Action" Pattern

Look at these words from the text: played, ended, scored, did not give.

These words tell us things that already happened.

The Rule: To talk about the past, we usually add -ed to the end of the word.

Play $\rightarrow$ Played End $\rightarrow$ Ended

The "Special" Case: Some words don't follow the rule. For example:

Give $\rightarrow$ Did not give

Quick Comparison:

Now: Hearts want to win.
Past: Hearts played a game.

Vocabulary Learning

team (n.)

group of people working together

Example:The team celebrated after the win.

game (n.)

activity played by teams

Example:We watched the game on TV.

goal (n.)

a point scored in football

Example:He scored a goal in the first minute.

referee (n.)

person who enforces rules

Example:The referee called a foul.

manager (n.)

person in charge of the team

Example:The manager gave instructions.

player (n.)

someone who plays a sport

Example:The player missed the match due to injury.

injury (n.)

harm to the body

Example:He suffered a leg injury.

win (v.)

to be victorious

Example:They hope to win the league.

league (n.)

competition of teams

Example:The league season starts next week.

score (v.)

to put points

Example:They scored two goals.

penalty (n.)

punishment in sport

Example:The penalty was not given.

angry (adj.)

feeling upset

Example:The manager was angry.

happy (adj.)

feeling joy

Example:The other manager was happy.

plan (n.)

set of actions to achieve a goal

Example:They made a new plan.

hurt (adj.)

injured

Example:The hurt players left the field.