Mohamed Salah celebrates his goal against Wolves
Mohamed Salah scored his 23rd league goal of the season late on to put Liverpool ahead against Wolves

He thought his goal was the winner as he celebrated with his teammates, just for a moment.

The Reds were up 2-1 with six minutes to go. If it had been scored a few minutes earlier, it would have made them feel like they had control of the trophy.

With 76 minutes gone over at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City were trailing 2-0 and the players were told by the fans at the Reds that they had scored.

There was a brief moment of belief that was extinguished after five minutes.

It was understandable that there were false dawns and moments of confusion on a high drama day.

A section of the crowd roared as another roar went up in the final few minutes, suggesting there had been more drama at the Etihad.

The German said that there was one moment when he heard 3-2 and then for a second, he thought they had equalized.

At the end of the game there was no sense of disappointment, rather an appreciation for what the Reds have already achieved in a season that could yet end with a trophy.

An emotional rollercoaster of a day

There was a feeling of hope and not expectation among fans before the game.

In January, the Reds had two games in hand and were just one point shy of the title.

Despite the odds not being in their favor, the fans of the Reds did their best to drive on their players.

The build-up to the game had a cup final feel to it, with cars flying the club's flags out of their windows and houses adorned in the club's colors.

The streets around the stadium were a sea of red before the game, with the arrival of the team coach greeted by cheers and flares.

Liverpool fans lined the streets and let off smoke flares when the Liverpool team bus arrived
Liverpool fans lined the streets and let off flares when the team bus arrived

The fans played their part as the 12th man. After a brief moment of silence at Wolves, they returned to roaring on their side, getting to their feet at the news of each Villa goal to try to encourage their players to find that bit more.

After Sadio Mane's 24th-minute goal, City went behind for the first time in the season, and then Ilkay Gundogan struck the title-winning goal in the 81st minute.

Liverpool celebrate scoring
Sadio Mane's equaliser was met by incredible noise as Anfield started to believe the title was on

The Reds fans vociferous support looked like it might be rewarded in the final 10 minutes as they looked like they would get a win, but Andrew Robertson struck in the last minute to give the Reds their 28th win of the season.

The final league goals of an incredible campaign for the Reds came just short to a brilliant City side.

The whole journey of 2021-22 so far is absolutely exceptional.

The entire club of Manchester City, as well as all staff and players, thanks to them, for being champion. We were close but not close enough.

A spur for Champions League success

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp leads a lap of honour at full time
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp leads a lap of honour at full time

The season is over for City but they still have one more trophy to win as they prepare to face Real Madrid in the final of the European club competition.

The opportunity for a triple is still there, even though the dream of a quadruple is over.

There is no greater incentive for his players to find that bit extra than the outcome of the finale.

He said they would try everything.

It has never been done before that you go completely without any knocks into a final. We had some knocks.

Losing the league today increases the desire to win next week.

How to follow Liverpool on the BBC bannerLiverpool banner footer