Toney rose above the City defence to give the visitors the lead at the Etihad in the first half, before tapping home in stoppage time to seal all three points after a stunning counter after Phil Foden's half-volleyed equaliser. He was in contention for the Three Lions squad in Qatar as a backup to Harry Kane, but Newcastle striker Callum Wilson was preferred to the Brentford man.
Carragher took to social media to react after Toney’s double against Pep Guardiola’s side, pointing to the squad he previously posted with the Bees striker in the cohort that he would take to the tournament, with three clear reasons why he should have made the squad. “Two goals for @ivantoney24 he should be on the plane to #WorldCup2022,” Carragher tweeted. “Goals, hold up play & to bring him off the bench for a penalty shootout.”
Toney admitted he was disappointed after being snubbed by Southgate following the victory in Manchester. "Listen, the only thing is to keep doing well, keep doing well for the team and see what can happen,” Toney told BT Sport.
Jamie Carragher believes Ivan Toney should have gone to the World Cup with Gareth Southgate. (Image: GETTY)
“Obviously, it was a disappointment but I won't let it put me down. I'll keep going and doing well for Brentford. My motivation is the lads in the dressing room and the fans. When we work hard this is what we can do.
"They might be Man City but they are humans and humans can lose games. I think the dedication and wanting to work hard for each other, we showed that today and deserved the three points."
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Toney is currently in the middle of an FA gambling probe, but Southgate insisted that was not the reason why he did not make the squad. "I’ve not had that conversation because he wasn’t in our squad,” Southgate said after announcing his squad on Thursday.
“For us, September was a good opportunity to have a look at Ivan on the training pitch, to learn a bit more about him, for him to see how we work. We knew and had discussed with him it was a long shot to be involved at this time in a World Cup.
"We’ve tracked all the players since. We think Callum’s just in that really rich vein of form and has been with us a little bit more, been on the pitch with us, we know him a little bit better.”