Arya News - A fever and flu-like symptoms threw Pulisic`s availability Monday into question, but after being cleared to play early in the day, he made an immediate impact.
Until Monday morning, there was serious doubt as to whether Christian Pulisic would even be in uniform for AC Milan’s Serie A match at Torino. Not only did the American attacker overcome illness to pull on a jersey, he came off the bench in the second half and scored twice in a 10-minute span as Milan came from behind for a 3-2 victory.
Pulisic entered in the 66th minute, scored the equalizer in the 67th, then posted the winner 10 minutes later for the visitors, who ran their Serie A unbeaten streak to 13 and claimed first place on goal differential over Napoli. The Pennsylvania native has scored seven league goals in nine appearances and nine goals across 12 matches in all competitions.
Pulisic had missed last weekend’s home victory over Lazio with a minor leg injury before returning for a brief appearance Thursday in the Coppa Italia rematch with the Roman club.
A fever and flu-like symptoms threw his availability Monday into question, but after being cleared to play early in the day, he made an immediate impact.
According to Stats Perform , he is the third U.S. national team player this century to score multiple goals as a sub in a European top-five league (England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France). The others were Charlie Davies (Sochaux/France) in 2009 and Folarin Balogun (Monaco/France) last year.
On his first goal, Pulisic settled Alexis Saelemaekers’ left-side cross and slid a left-footed shot from 8 yards into the far corner.
Ten minutes later, he glided unmarked into the heart of the penalty area as Samuele Ricci crossed from the right side. With another left-footer, Pulisic one-timed a 10-yard shot into the right corner.
In league play, he leads Milan in goals, two ahead of Rafael Leão, and is tied with three others for most assists (two).
In his third season in Italy since leaving Chelsea, Pulisic has recorded 30 goals in 79 league appearances and 41 in 112 overall.
Pulisic’s form at Milan this season bodes well for the U.S. national team, which will reconvene in late March for friendlies against Belgium and Portugal — the last camp before the World Cup squad is finalized in May.
Pulisic was limited to 48 minutes over two friendlies in the October international window because of injuries and missed last month’s window to focus on his fitness.