“A cagey affair”

Definition

A tight, tense game where neither side wants to make the first mistake. Finals are almost always cagey. Yesterday’s game certainly was. The stakes are sometimes just too high.

Origin

Sports historians trace the specific connection to American boxing around the 1890s. A “cagey fighter” was a boxer who fought defensively, kept a tight guard, and hid their intentions to avoid getting hit.

Used in a sentence

“The final was a cagey affair for 105 minutes. Then Ferran Torres scored and opened things up.”