Why West Brom's Isaac Price was substituted off vs Ukraine despite 'powerful' Northern Ireland goal
West Brom star Isaac Price was on the scoresheet as Northern Ireland thrashed Ukraine on Friday night.
While earning his 35th cap in the Nations League victory, 23-year-old Price scored his 11th senior international goal, sandwiched between a brace by Oxford United defender Ciaron Brown.
Yorkshire-born Price has been in good form overall for the Baggies this season and has now continued that into an international setting, helping the Green and White Army secure a massive win against Ukraine in Trnava, Slovakia.
After three games, Michael O'Neill's side sit top of Group 2 in League B, meaning that they're on course to be promoted to the same level as England.
Northern Ireland's final game of this set of international fixtures is at home against Georgia on Monday, before they finish off their Nations League campaign against Ukraine and Hungary in November.
Price will be gunning to help his country qualify for the 2028 European Championships in the UK and Ireland after the Nations League finishes.
And if he and his country keep up their good form, there's no doubt that he'll be booking a spot at the tournament.
How Northern Irish media reacted to Isaac Price's display vs Ukraine
BBC Sport Northern Ireland hailed Price's "powerful header" in their match report, adding that it was the West Brom midfielder's first goal for his country in over a year, which came in a 3-1 loss to Germany.
While Brown's double saw him earn the man of the match award, readers rated Price's performance at 8.51 out of 10.
Northern Ireland's official match report hailed Price for "superbly" heading home his goal, as well as delivering a "dangerous cross" in the second half.
BelfastLive awarded the Albion ace with an 8/10 rating, saying that he "always carried a threat", while the Belfast Telegraph spoke about how the "ever-willing" player "scored a beauty".
But what about Price's overall and statistical performance?
The stats behind Price's latest Northern Ireland performance
Price was substituted off after 67 minutes - and not due to injury.
That's good news for James Morrison and West Brom, who'll have seen one of their star players scored and emerge unscathed from an impressive victory.
He'll likely start again versus Georgia on Monday, but Price will be back in the UK and be staying in the UK very soon, meaning he should be in good condition to play against Birmingham City next weekend.
Stats by Sofascore show that Price completed one key pass, completed the only cross he attempted and has a 77 per cent pass accuracy against Ukraine.
He lost possession seven times and had three unsuccessful touches, but also won one free-kick, scored from his only effort at goal and won two of the three ground fuels he contended.
Not stats that fly off the page, admittedly, but a first goal in 10 games and being vital in a good win is a huge boost for Price personally, for his country and for West Brom.