Play it by?

[OwlsFan]

What about defeat to when it should be defeat by ? The former has taken over but I firmly believe that it is incorrect. You don't say Bohs were defeated to Rovers so why is it correct to say Bohs suffered defeat to Rovers?

[SkStu]

Isn't it just that one is being used as a verb (defeat by) and the other is using defeat as (I'm going to say) a noun? In your example suffer is the verb.