On Wednesday night at Anfield, it wasn’t so much age catching up with Raheem Sterling as it was racing away from him.
The Chelsea forward, who often struggles with his returns to Merseyside, may still have plenty left in the tank at 29, but he found himself unable to keep up with Conor Bradley as the Liverpool right-back surged past him before expertly slotting home his first-ever goal for the Reds.
Bradley had already contributed an assist in the match when he provided for Diogo Jota, who then muscled his way through a somewhat fragile Chelsea defense. This assist came on the heels of Bradley’s two assists in the FA Cup victory over Norwich and another on his Premier League debut against Bournemouth.
Liverpool fans have been delighted with Bradley’s progress since his introduction to the side at the start of January. However, he provided the standout moment of his time with the team during Wednesday’s clash at Anfield. Sprinting past Sterling and into the penalty area, Bradley unleashed a magnificent shot into the bottom corner of the net to extend Liverpool’s lead.
It was a remarkable moment for the 20-year-old, one that also set a Reds record.
As tweeted by Opta statistician Michael Reid, at 20 years and 206 days old, Bradley became the youngest Liverpool player to both score and assist a goal in a Premier League game since Sterling himself nearly 10 years ago.