Jamie Carragher has praised Manchester City as worth winners of the Premier League after seeing Liverpool be pipped to the title on the final day of the season.
City claimed a stunning comeback win over Aston Villa, scoring three goals in five second-half minutes to secure the points needed to win their fourth title in five years. Though Liverpool defeated Wolves, it was not enough for them to overtake City.
Both of the title rivals had fallen behind, with Pedro Neto putting Wolves in front against the Reds, while Matty Cash and Philippe Coutinho netted for Villa at the Etihad. But a final day for the ages ensued, with Ilkay Gundogan scoring two crucial goals and Rodri also getting on the scoresheet in the final 15 minutes.
The win means that City have finished one point ahead of Liverpool in the table. Jurgen Klopp's hopes of lifting a historic quadruple are now in tatters, but Carragher believes they can be proud of their efforts.
"Great achievement, it really is. Looking at Pep Guardiola, he’s quite emotional. In some ways, they wouldn’t have wanted to go through what they have today, but sometimes that makes it sweeter," Carragher told Sky Sports when asked about City's title win.
"They had that Aguero moment and this probably won’t be too far behind. It was always going to be tough [for Liverpool] with the position that City found themselves in, but credit to Liverpool. It would just be a cakewalk for City every year if it wasn’t for Liverpool.
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"I said before there’d be a party atmosphere here no matter what, but the way things have unfolded today, which was very unexpected, is why it feels a little bit flat. You have to congratulate them, that’s what champions do.
"We’ve been in this position before but it's tough. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough. We can’t have too many issues, we did absolutely everything all season right until the last day. If you had said we’d be here in January, we would have bit your hand off. I’m very proud of the boys but it’s over yet, we’ve got another game next week."
Ultimately, eight draws and two defeats across the season cost Liverpool the title and their chance of winning the quadruple. City meanwhile are celebrating yet another title, their fourth since Guardiola took charge.
It is the closest the Reds have come to winning the title, aside from their 2020 win, since the 2018/2019 season. In that campaign, they were also pipped to top spot by one point by Guardiola's City.
Klopp's side would go on to win the Champions League that season, defeating Tottenham Hotspur in the final. That is a situation they will hope to replicate this campaign, with a final date against Real Madrid in Paris next Saturday, as they search for their seventh European Cup.
