Crossword Genius

Person offends pair at the start with article on game alluding to celebrated player (3,2,3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

man of the match

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'player' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Best player ' mean 'man of the match' so perhaps 'player' could also mean 'man of the match')

'person offends pair at the start with article on game alluding to celebrated' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'person' could be 'match' (match is a kind of person) and 'match' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
'article' could be 'an' (indefinite article) and 'an' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for man of the match that I've seen before include "Star of the fixture" , "Game's best player" , "One adjudged best player" , "Groom" , "Best player on pitch" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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