Steven Gerrard braced for Aston Villa 'meme' treatment as ex Rangers boss' reaction leaves Jamie Carragher in stitches

There's hardly a moment out of the spotlight when you're a Premier League manager.

Steven Gerrard has felt that more than most this week as the pressure ramped up on the under-fire Aston Villa manager. Villa have endured a difficult start to the campaign and former Rangers boss Gerrard has found himself being questioned by pundits and fans alike.

A meeting with champions Manchester City and the devastating Erling Haaland was perhaps the last thing Villa fans wanted next for their team but despite going behind to the Norwegian's latest strike, they rallied to claim a point through Leon Bailey's equaliser 15 minutes from time. The winger rifled a sumptuous left-footed finish beyond Ederson to send Villa Park into raptures - and spark a brief outpouring of joy from Gerrard. Sky Sports cameras caught the ex-Liverpool captain briefly throwing a few fist pumps before quickly composing himself, presumably to rethink the attacking substitutions he had been preparing.

But his celebration certainly tickled co-commentator Jamie Carragher, who remarked that Gerrard's reaction was much like the popular meme of Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

You know the one - the Saints boss is captured taking off down the touchline in celebration before apologetically tip-toeing back to his technical area so as not to incur the wrath of the officials. And there was definitely some similarity in Gerrard's celebration, at least according to Carragher, who immediately quipped: "That could be a meme, it was like the Hasenhuttl one!”

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