It had been a long time since Christian Pulisic had been able to celebrate a goal at San Siro, but that wait ended on Sunday night.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write how Pulisic’s drought ended yesterday with a goal that was truly spectacular, a real firework of a strike in terms of quality and beauty. Before this, he had scored zero goals in a Milan shirt in 2026, and only one in a friendly for the United States.
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That goal for the USA came just days after a World Cup campaign that ended with a nagging injury, which had also hampered the start of his season with the Rossoneri. Against Lecce, Pulisic finally returned to the starting XI for the first time with Ruben Amorim as the coach.
After just 14 minutes, Milan scored their first first-half goal of the season after a pinpoint long ball from Strahinja Pavlovic that sailed over Siebert, followed by a sublime touch and a first-time side-footed shot from Pulisic that beat Falcone.
First of the year
The last time ‘Captain America’ had made his mark at San Siro was back on December 28, in the match against Verona. That was 266 days ago, a period during which both Pulisic and the team suffered greatly.
Pulisic went goalless and was plagued by niggling injuries, while the team – under Massimiliano Allegri – slumped from being genuine Scudetto contenders to fifth place, missing out on the Champions League football.
The summer saw the complete overhaul of the technical staff and the arrival of Amorim, offering the former Chelsea man the chance to wipe the slate clean. Christian did just that, assisting Diego Moreira against Lazio and then scoring last night.
“It’s been a difficult 2026 for me and the team,” Pulisic admitted after the match in an interview with DAZN. Then came a remark that sounded like a release of tension: “I ran too much! I’m very tired.” Tired, but happy.
For the past two years, Pulisic has been Milan’s top scorer. Today, however, the leading marksman is an unexpected name: Moreira. The Belgian netted the third goal against Di Francesco’s side, building on the brace he scored at the Olimpico the previous week. Three goals, all coming off the bench.
For now, Amorim is primarily using Moreira as an impact substitute, but if the former Strasbourg player keeps this up, it will be hard to imagine him staying out of the starting lineup for long.
The goal is a perfect example of why he didn’t score during the dreadful period where Allegri played him as a striker. Ramos checked back for the ball, drawing the defensive line forward and flat footed, then Pulisic immediately makes the run in behind and Pavlo sees it with a beautiful ball over the top. Give Pulisic something to work with and he will always continue to create. I don’t think many were worried about him but if you were, hopefully now we are all in agreement. He will be fantastic this season as long as he stays healthy.
Can’t help but feel sorry for any attacking player in Allegri system. Hands down one of the worst coaches I’ve ever watched. Sure is fun to watch Napoli struggle week in and week out though