Maintained a five-nil lead over United (6)

I believe the answer is:

avowed

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'maintained' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'a five-nil lead over united' is the wordplay.
'five' becomes 'V' (Roman numeral).
'nil' becomes 'O' (O resembles 0).
'lead' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'over united' becomes 'wed' (united in marriage. I am not sure about the 'over' bit.).
'a'+'v'+'o'+'wed'='AVOWED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for avowed that I've seen before include "Acknowledged" , "Openly asserted" , "Confessed openly" , "Declared" , "Professed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail and The Telegraph.

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