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Conor Bradley earned the plaudits of his manager after making his Premier League debut in Liverpool's 4-0 win at Bournemouth on Sunday, but he also became a record-breaker in the process.
With Liverpool suffering from a full-back injury crisis, as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas all remain side-lined, Jurgen Klopp handed 20-year-old Bradley his first Premier League start and the Northern Irishman didn't let him down, producing a composed and hard-working performance as the Reds eventually cruised to a 4-0 away win that extended their lead at the top of the table to five points.
After missing a chance to score with a far-post header, Bradley's most significant moment arrived in the 79th minute when he played a pass into the feet of Diogo Jota, who made a hash of his attempted snapshot before quickly recovering to bury the ball in the back of the net at the second attempt. Despite the scruffy nature of the goal, it meant that Bradley had registered his first assist in a Liverpool shirt on his maiden Premier League appearance and with that, a long-standing record was broken.
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According to respected football statistician Marshall Gillespie, Bradley has become the first Northern Irish player to assist a goal for Liverpool in 69 years and 277 days. The last player to achieve the feat was Sammy Smyth against Middlesbrough at Anfield on April 19, 1954.
It is unlikely that Reds boss Klopp would have been aware of the long-standing record but he was full of praise for his debutant after the match regardless. When asked by the club's official
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