Bacary Sagna gets on the end of a ball down the right and his cross is met first-time by Tomas Rosicky, who sees his shot flash just wide of the post. Close, but no cigar.
- What do you think the commentator meant by his last reply?
Thanks in advance.
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“Close but no cigar” is a set expression.
It means that something was going very well in the beginning, but failed at the end by the narrowest of margins.
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It looks like the player missed his shot. He did not manage to score (by sending the ball into the goal), but the commentator thinks that he was very close to succeeding. That is why he made use of that idiom. 
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Thank you both OTS and Christina for the explanation.
Best regards.
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