ADJ

big, crucial, important
exciting, thrilling
championship, competitive, cup, league
friendly
away, home
He's such a keen fan, he even goes to all the away matches
cricket, football, rugby, wrestling, etc.

VERB + MATCH

play
The match will be played in the new stadium
have
Figo had an outstanding match
go to, see, watch
be defeated in, lose
clinch, win
A late goal clinched the match for Porto
draw
We drew our first game of the season 1?1

MATCH + VERB

take place

PREP

during a/the ~
an incident which took place during Saturday's match
in a/ the ~
She was injured in last week's match
~ against
the match against Wales
~ between
the match between Japan and Brazil
~ with
They lost their match with Estonia

ADJ

lighted

QUANT

box

VERB + MATCH

light, strike
He lit a match so they could see in the cave
blow out

PHRASES

put a match to sth
Someone had put a match to the pile of papers

ADJ

excellent, good, perfect
The blouse and skirt are a perfect match

PREP

~ between
an excellent match between our goals and what your company offers
~ for
That jumper should be a good match for your trousers

ADJ

exact

PREP

~ for
To forge the certificate, she needed an exact match for the paper and the fonts

ADV

well
As a couple they are not very well matched (= they are not very suitable for each other)
not quite
The room was full of old furniture that didn't quite match

PHRASES

to match
I bought a duvet cover and some curtains to match

ADV

correctly
carefully

PREP

for
The control group in the experiment was matched for age and sex
to
The aim of the competition is to match the quote to the person who said it

ADV

almost
She found that his determination almost matched her own
not quite
Nothing quite matches the fine, subtle flavour of this cheese

VERB + MATCH

come close to
be able/unable to
The company was unable to match his current salary
try to
fail to
Children can be made to suffer when they fail to match their parents' expectations

PREP

for
No other rock band comes even close to matching them for dynamism or style

PHRASES

be equally/evenly/well matched
The teams were very evenly matched
be unevenly matched

ADV

carefully
up
We have to match up the right pet with the right owner

VERB + MATCH

seek to, try to

PREP

to
The available organs are carefully matched to people in need of transplants
with
The agency tries to match single people with suitable partners