The English Premier League made its return earlier in the week as “Project Restart” went in full swing, and come Sunday, it was Christian Pulisic’s turn to take the pitch for the first time in six months.
Despite Chelsea dominating the opening 45 minutes of its Sunday match against Aston Villa, the Blues went into half down, 1-0. In the 55th minute, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard brought on the USMNT star — who had last appeared for Chelsea on Jan. 1 since suffering a hip injury — off the bench.
And, well, Pulisic’s impact was felt immediately.
Less than five minutes after coming in as a substitute, Pulisic scored on a left-footed volley off a cross from Cesar Azpilicueta.
It was Pulisic’s seventh goal of the season with Chelsea. And just two minutes later, Olivier Giroud provided Chelsea with the go-ahead goal for the 2-1 win.
With a huge match upcoming against Manchester City on Thursday, it wasn’t necessarily a surprise to see Lampard have usual attacking starters like Pulisic and Tammy Abraham come off the bench. Following the match, the Chelsea manager had rave reviews for the 21-year-old American.
Via nbcsports.com:
“I hope so. He was hungry. I know that. I felt for him, as I’ve felt for the players with long term injuries. Ruben is in the same position. I know Christian was very hungry. He’s trained well and the ability he has got to arrive in the box, it is a big thing I’ve spoken about with him all season.
“The difference between being a very good attacking player off the side or the players at the real top level of the game who arrive and score in the six yard box and hit big numbers yearly. I really think Christian can do that. I was really pleased with him and the impact he had when he came on. He will start games for us, of course, and I think he’s going to be a big player for us. Not just in this run-in but obviously going forward.”
We can expect to see a lot more of Pulisic in the coming weeks as Chelsea looks to hold onto a Champions League spot.
