31 January 2024 , 22:13
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Age didn't so much catch up with Raheem Sterling on Wednesday night at Anfield as race away from him.
The Chelsea forward - who never seems to enjoy his returns to Merseyside - still has plenty in the tank at the age of 29, but he couldn't keep up with Conor Bradley as the Liverpool right-back raced away from him before superbly firing home his first ever Reds goal.
Bradley had already registered an assist in the match when he found Diogo Jota before the Portuguese bundled his way through a rather flimsy Chelsea defence, with the Northern Irishman following on from his two assists in the FA Cup win over Norwich and another on his Premier League debut at Bournemouth.
Liverpool fans have been thrilled with the development of Bradley ever since he came into the side at the beginning of January, but he served up the biggest highlight of his time in the team in the 39th minute of Wednesday's clash at Anfield.
Racing away from Sterling and into the penalty area, Bradley arrowed a superb shot into the bottom corner of the net to double Liverpool's lead. It was a special moment for the 20-year-old, and also one that set a Reds record.
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Conor Bradley scored his first ever goal for Liverpool (PA)As tweeted by Opta statistician Michael Reid, Bradley - at 20 years and 206 days old - became the youngster Liverpool player to both score and assist a goal in the Premier League game since Sterling himself almost 10 years ago.
Then a teenage winger, Sterling grabbed a goal and an assist in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Southampton on the opening day of the 2014-15 season when he was 19 years and 252 days old.
Almost a decade on though, and it was Bradley who was the talk of Anfield after his goal, with the 29-year-old then adding another assist in the second half for good measure when he teed up a header for Dominik Szoboszlai to make it 3-0.
He was to depart the scene shortly after being replaced by Trent Alexander-Arnold to a rapturous applause, with the Reds going on to register a 4-1 success.