Carragher mocks Gerrard for touchline antics in hard-fought Man City draw

Jamie Carragher spotted Steven Gerrard's meme-worthy celebration after Aston Villa equalised against Manchester City.

The Liverpool legend, an ex-teammate of Gerrard's, was commentating on Villa's hard-earned 1-1 draw with the champions on Saturday. Leon Bailey ruled out City striker Erling Haaland 's 50th-minute opener with an emphatic finish late on, allowing Villa to take a point from the Premier League clash and avoid making it four successive losses.

When Bailey's belter hit the back of the net with venom, Gerrard turned towards his coaching staff celebrating and seemingly gestured for them to temper their celebrations. The Villa boss' body language was reminiscent of Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl's celebration when his side took the lead against Arsenal two years ago.

Carragher - who played alongside Gerrard at Anfield for 15 years as they won 10 trophies together - picked up on the similarity while on duty for Sky Sports, prompting him to say live on air: "Oh, he enjoyed that one. That could be a meme, I can feel it. That's like the Hasenhuttl one!"

Gerrard was asked about his antics post-match and explained that he wasn't instructing his fellow coaches to calm down. The former Rangers gaffer was instead telling the Villa staff to hold off on their more attacking substitutes, as they no longer needed to chase the game with a one-nil deficit.

On the match itself, Gerrard was delighted with his players' efforts and told Sky Sports : "The players have come together and they've put an incredible amount of effort in, [and] followed instructions. I knew this job was huge and I know our run of form hasn't been good enough.

"I'll always take the hits, that's my job, we have lost too many points this season and we need to do things slightly differently. We have to use this and grow our results. I'm proud of the players but there will be no pats on the back today - it's a big draw but it's still just a draw."

Get involved! Will Gerrard turn things around at Villa? Let us know your prediction in the comments section.

He wasn't pleased about one aspect of the evening, though, as Villa had a potential winner ruled out for offside. Midfielder Philippe Coutinho struck in the dying embers, but the linesman had already raised his flag - unlike what we've come to expect since the introduction of VAR.

"I'm not sure on the Coutinho goal because we might have had a second. I've seen a legitimate goal but obviously I am going to be biased," Gerrard admitted. "The referee did the same at the other end when Ezri Konsa challenged the goalkeeper.

"Why not wait? Why not wait and then check or let other people check whether it's a foul? He was straight on the whistle and that is twice over the 90 minutes."

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