Liverpool star Conor Bradley achieves SENSATIONAL feat unseen in 53 years

Conor Bradley captained Northern Ireland again last night as they romped to a 5-0 victory over a dismal Bulgaria in the UEFA Nations League.

It was a truly astonishing display from the home side at Windsor Park as they overran the Eastern European outfit from the first minute of the game.

The goals weren’t without luck but the performance was deserving of the scoreline. 21-year-old Isaac Price netted himself a hattrick, bouncing a magnificent pass from Dion Charles off the turf for the first, breaking on a loose ball to get it deflected into the net for the second, and completing it with a 25-yard stunner into the top corner.

Brodie Spencer forced a third off the post and back of the goalkeeper, while Josh Magennis showcased a super off the underside of the bar to make it five. Bulgaria had a penalty crash off the crossbar themselves but it wouldn’t have made much difference.

Bradley was unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet himself, making a brilliant run and having the ball cleared off the line (tapped in thereafter by Charles) in an incident that was ruled out for offside after the play had taken place.

The icing on the cake is that this equals Northern Ireland’s best-ever victory. The last time they won 5-0 was away to the Faroe Islands in 1991 in a Euros qualifier preliminary stage game, and the last time they won 5-0 at home was against Cyprus in 1971.

George Best scored a hat trick that day.

Conor Bradley on Northern Ireland's record win

“Obviously, I’ve seen us in training every day, I know how hard we work and how well training’s been going for the last two weeks.” Bradley said after the game, adding “I knew something like this was coming around the corner. It was just a matter of time.”

This performance happening under Bradley’s captaincy is welcome news for Liverpool fans. Despite only being 21, it is clear that Bradley has maturity and leadership capabilities way beyond his years.

With Liverpool being in a transition period and potentially facing the departure of star right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, it is worth considering whether his replacement is already waiting in the wings.