Conor Bradley continued to play a slightly unusual position for Northern Ireland as Diogo Jota, Andy Robertson and Ben Doak were all involved in late drama between Portugal and Scotland.
Since going on loan to Bolton in 2022, Bradley has consistently proven himself to be a player who can provide impetus from right-back.
Such has been the impression he has made in his young career, the now 21-year-old was awarded his international debut in 2021 and has become arguably Northern Ireland’s most influential player.
With manager Michael O’Neill preferring to play three at the back, Bradley has been pushed further forward to play as a right midfielder or even as an attacking winger.
From the right, Bradley scored both of his nation’s goals in a 2-0 win over Andorra in June, adding to the winner he netted against Scotland from that same right-midfield position in March.
On Sunday evening, Liverpool’s No. 84 lined up as an advanced right winger for Northern Ireland as they took on Bulgaria in the Nations League.
Unfortunately for the youngster, the night ended in a 1-0 defeat but Bradley’s selection as an attacker was another show of faith from O’Neill in the Liverpool man’s technical abilities.
After the game, Bradley told media including the BBC: “In the second half I thought we played really well. We know the first half wasn’t good enough.
“We didn’t keep the ball well enough and we kept giving away free-kicks. We brought the pressure on ourselves. There’s a lot to learn from it.”
Another late setback for Scotland
Robertson lined up against Jota on Sunday as Steve Clarke’s Scotland side looked to halt their recent run of bad results.
At first, it seemed they were on track to do so, with Napoli’s Scott McTominay heading in the opener after seven minutes.
However, the away team didn’t take advantage of their lead and the second half very much belonged to Portugal, with Jota the spearhead of the attack.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Jota up front after the break but it was Bruno Fernandes who scored an excellent equaliser in Lisbon.
As usual, Ronaldo still got his moment spotlight, though, finally nodding into an open goal in the 88th minute after contributing to missing several gilt-edged chances.
This meant Scotland have now conceded in the 85th minute or later in five of their last six games, something captain Robertson will be keen to end.
From a Liverpool perspective, it was nice to see Doak earn another cap, though he would have hoped to have come on earlier than the 91st minute.
Under-18s in action
As is becoming the norm, Trey Nyoni came away from a game with plenty of plaudits after scoring for England U18s against France U18s.
Reds defender Carter Pinnington also started and nearly scored with a header that he saw crash against the crossbar.
England went into the match against France knowing that a win by two clear goals would be enough to triumph in the Lafarge Tournament.
While they didn’t manage this, eventually drawing 1-1 in Limoges, it was down to no fault of Nyoni who produced an excellent display in midfield and scored his team’s only goal.
It is telling that he is one of the few youngsters Arne Slot decided not to send on loan and, at the moment, he is consistently showing why the coach made that decision.
