pull back

verb3

1. •
   To retreat.

   • Central African armed forces (FACA) troops were forced to pull back from the town and were planning an operation to retake it, the source said. — 2010
2. •
   To score when the team is losing.

   • Feb 19 2007, Al-Jazeera, Stylish Sevilla pull level with faltering Barcelona Ronaldinho pulled back a goal for Barca in injury time with a classy free-kick, but it was clearly too little too late to prevent their third Liga defeat.
3. •
   To pass (the ball) into a position further from the attacking goal line.

   • December 1 2010, Paul Fletcher, BBC News, Ipswich 1-0 West Brom Jason Scotland should have scored after Tamas advanced purposefully down the right before pulling the ball back into the path of his team-mate, who shot straight at Myhill.