Carragher rips into Arsenal star Odegaard for Liverpool celebrations as Gary Neville rates title chances

Jamie Carragher was less than impressed by the celebrations of Martin Odegaard at full-time as the Sky Sports pundit offered his reaction to Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over Liverpool that fired the Gunners back into the title race.

The Gunners went into the match five points adrift of Jurgen Klopp’s side at the top of the table and many people felt a defeat for Arsenal would effectively end their title chances. But the pressure of needing to avoid going eight points behind Arsenal seemed to inspire the hosts as goals from Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard helped Mikel Arteta’s side claim a deserved win.

As Gary Neville explained at full-time, there was an “edge and an intensity about the Arsenal side”, who he felt “lifted the whole place” when reflecting about their all-action display.

But For Liverpool, it was a rare off day as the Reds slumped to only a second loss of the season and now means a win for Manchester City on Monday night away to Brentford can close the gap to just three two points between the top three sides.

The Reds looked shaky at Emirates Stadium, especially in defence and a mix-up between two of their most consistent stars in Virgl van Dijk and Alisson presented Martinelli with an open goal to gift Arsenal the lead for the second time in the match.

“Arsenal deserved the win, Liverpool were so far off,” Carragher told Sky Sports.

“They played poorly, it’s not something we’ve seen of them of late. They’ve got three or four matches until they play Manchester City – that’ll be a massive test of their nerve now.”

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Carragher rips into Arsenal skipper Odegaard for Arsenal celebrations

The victory for the Gunners, though, was clearly a relief as much as anything, with Arteta underlining before the game the importance of his side taking all three points.

That release at full-time was clearly evident with pretty jubilant celebrations among fans and players, with Odegaard summing up the mood with his rather unusual after-match antics.

The Gunners captain celebrated the win in a unique way, by taking the camera of club photographer Stuart MacFarlane and taking photos of the Arsenal supporters as they celebrated jubilantly.

When watching footage of Odegaard, an irked Carragher commented: “Just get down the tunnel! You’ve won a big game, you’ve got the three points, you’re back in the title race, just get down the tunnel. I’m being serious, honestly.”

Neville reckons the win will also prove some of their doubters wrong, though agrees the celebrations were also far too excessive given there are still plenty of twists and turns left in the title race.

“I always doubted whether this Arsenal team [could win the title], just looking at some of the things that were happening. The over-celebrations against Aston Villa [after the 4-2 win in February].

“I look at little things that might look a little bit harsh – Zinchenko celebrating an hour after the game with the fans outside and screaming. You want your leaders in the team, who have been there before to spread composure around the dressing room and calm everybody down. You don’t want them to lift the anxiety, lift the emotion.”

Rice hails massive win as he talks up Gunners title hopes

Nonetheless, it was a huge win for Arsenal, whose victory emphatically lifts the club right back into the title race.

And the England midfielder, while stopping short of stating Arsenal can win the title, insists that Sunday’s win puts them back in with a shout and claims it is the sort of result they had been dreaming about as kids.

“We knew the importance of the game today,” Rice told Sky Sports. “The gap would have become either bigger or smaller and the only focus today was to win and get three points.

“The training leading up to the weekend has been really positive and that transmits on to the pitch and you could feel that today.

“When you’re competing for titles every game is so important. We’ve slipped up in some games of late but today there was a real importance about the game and to do it the way we did, these are the moments we live for.

“As kids we dream about these moments and we’re really happy today.”

Arsenal return to action on Sunday when Rice returns to his former club West Ham, and with Arsenal seeking to avenge their 2-0 home defeat to the Irons on December 28.

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