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I find two verbs in this sentence from a sports site elusive in meaning.

But there was to be no fairytale, with Oliver blowing for a penalty after adjudging Mehdi Benatia to have bundled over Lucas Vazquez as the winger shaped to score from point plank range.

Having checked Google, bundle over doesn't appear to be idiomatic. Bundle as a verb means rush, hurry. But what does it mean here? Is it a non-idiomatic usage?

Also shaped to score supposedly means was about to score, but I can't find this usage in dictionaries either. It also appears to be quite different from shape up to be.

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  • I think it should read "point blank" not "point plank".
    – TimR
    Nov 28, 2018 at 21:25
  • It's possible the author is not a native speaker. My guess, someone from Scandinavia.
    – TimR
    Nov 28, 2018 at 21:31
  • Be aware this is all soccer/football jargon. Many in the U.S. would have no idea what was going on in this sentence.
    – Andrew
    Nov 28, 2018 at 21:50
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    @dan: "these here parts" is regional dialect, used by so-called "hillbillies" and "rednecks". (Those are colloquial pejorative terms for relatively uneducated US southerners, backwoods, rural, and small-town dwellers.) The phrase means "around here" or "in this locality". "here" is regarded as non-standard when used in tandem with the demonstrative and a noun: this here dog can hunt; these here dogs can hunt.
    – TimR
    Nov 29, 2018 at 9:50
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    @miltonaut quick tip: If they talk about bowlers, batters, and overs it's cricket. If they talk about wingers, strikers, or corners, it's soccer. However, none of this is nearly as difficult as explaining American football to a non-native. :-)
    – Andrew
    Nov 29, 2018 at 16:45

1 Answer 1

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"Bundle", as a verb, can mean Push or shove, in a hurried or untidy way. Mehdi pushed Lucas over, or tripped him up in some way.

"Shaped to score" looks like an expression invented by this journalist. I assume it means "got into a shape to shoot for the goal" so he balanced himself and prepared to kick the ball.

The general meaning is clear. One player fouled another, just as the second player was going to shoot.

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