Christian Pulisic has rather honestly admitted that he did not try to score with his corner kick against Club Brugge, but he will take the Olimpico goal anyway.
In the 34th minute, Milan took the lead and it came via a strange fashion. Pulisic lined up to take a corner on the left side and went for the usual low whipping delivery to the near post, yet it somehow evaded both runners and Mignolet between the posts to end up in the back of the net.
When that goal went in and then the away side went down to 10 men it looked like being a straightforward night, but ten-man Brugge got themselves level through Sabbe to stun the San Siro crowd.
Two substitutes – Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze – each set up Tijjani Reijnders as the Rossoneri scored twice in quick succession to earn a first victory in the 2024-25 edition of the Champions League.
Pulisic spoke to Milan TV at full-time to give his thoughts on what was a bit of a rollercoaster night, and one that ultimately ended with three points. MilanNews relayed his comments.
Tell us about your goal…
“Today I was a bit lucky but it still counts as a goal. I’m very happy. I didn’t try to score directly but it was a good cross and then a nice goal came out.”
How do you feel condition-wise?
“I work very hard every day and I always want to be decisive in the matches. I’m scoring a lot of goals and assists, I hope to continue like this.”
Getting points in the Champions League was crucial…
“A lot of confidence for us, we needed this result. Let’s continue like this.”
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LMAO 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 even after the player himself said he wasn’t trying to score you’re still calling bs …..on the very player himself…hahahahahahaha 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh so when he even admits its lucky himself its bs…. sure buddy 😀
It was classy of Pulisic to disclose that he wasn’t trying to score. He could perfectly have said “if you see how I take many corner kicks, I always keep it close to the goal line in the hope that someone will head it in, but yes, also in the hope that I’ll score directly an Olympic goal, and today my dream of scoring one like this came through.” That would actually have been believable. But he is such a classy guy that he is not willing to BS the fans if he actually wasn’t trying to score, so he said the truth instead. Again, Puli is the nicest guy around.
My take on this whole question…
I think the point of the driven near-post corner kick is like driving a long free kick low at the far post. You aren’t trying to score but the ideal delivery means that if no one touches it and the goalkeeper gets confused and doesn’t react, the ball ends up in the net.
This corner kick was perfect for that. It was in a perfect position to either be nudged into the net by an attacking header or to befuddle the keeper and nestle in the net.
Difficult to execute but done here to perfection.
Pulisic wasn’t trying to score. But the strategy of this type of delivery is that every once in a blue moon it will miss everyone, confuse the keeper, and go in. It both is and isn’t luck. He deserves full credit.