Chelsea ace Christian Pulisic becomes first American to score in Champions League semi-final
Chelsea ace Christian Pulisic became the first American to score in a Champions League semi-final (h/t NBC Sport). The American broke this record after his strike against Real Madrid gave Chelsea the lead in the first leg.
Christian Pulisic joined the club amid much fan-fare in 2019 but it was not until the latter stages that he started performing. Even this season, Pulisic has blown hot and cold but is slowly getting into the rhythm as the business end approaches.
Against Real Madrid, he showed that he meant business right from the start. In the ninth minute, he found Timo Werner with a lobbed header, which the striker inexplicably missed, shooting straight at Thibaut Courtois.
Nonetheless, the American took matters into his own hands 5 minutes later as he received the ball in the box. With Courtois approaching, he did well to attract him further and pull him out of goal, only to dribble past him. With the goal only being covered by Varane and Nacho, Pulisic picked his spot and shot fiercely, which ricocheted off Varane into the net.
In scoring that goal, he broke two huge records. First, it was the first time an American international had scored in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Secondly, he passed DaMarcus Beasley for the number of goals in the Champions League by an American.
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With so much at stake, it is good to see Pulisic hitting some form. The tie is far from over though, with the score still at 1-1. Chelsea will need to keep Real at bay if they are to make it to the finals after 9 years.
