Tag: Lecce

Pulisic’s banner season continues with sensational strike at Lecce

The USMNT star scored his 13th goal of the season just six minutes in

The Christian Pulisic at No. 10 experiment didn’t take long to prove a huge success.

The U.S. men’s national team star was played at the trequartista role for AC Milan’s match against Lecce on Saturday, and he only took six minutes to find the net with an outstanding strike.

Samuel Chukwueze did some great work on the right flank before cutting a pass back to Pulisic at the top of the box. From there, the American cut onto his left foot and fired a shot that took a slight deflection on the way into the far corner.

It was the 13th goal of the season for Pulisic in all competitions, and his 10th in Serie A. Having already set a career high for total goals, the Pennsylvania native has now reached double figures in league goals for the first time in his career.

Pulisic has been used as a wide attacker in Stefano Pioli’s 4-2-3-1 setup this season, but with normal No. 10 Ruben Loftus-Cheek suspended on Saturday, Pioli gave the USMNT star the chance to play inside.

Pioli’s decision paid off quickly at the San Siro. Milan would go on to win 3-0, as Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leão added goals in a comfortable victory.

Speaking to DAZN after the game, Pioli was full of praise for his American forward.

“I must say that when I have video meetings to explain to a player what our path and ideas are, I’m rarely wrong about personal and character sensations,” the coach said. “Pulisic is a quality player, I already knew him. But when we spoke two or three times I heard something very positive. I saw desire and curiosity in him. I found everything I had heard.

“He’s not a guy who opens up a lot, it’s not what makes the difference but his attitude does. He has a fantastic attitude, about the team and about everyone. An exemplary worker and professional like all Milan players, this has raised the level of professionalism and seriousness that will help the group become ever stronger.”

Watch Pulisic’s goal vs. Lecce

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AC Milan boss Pioli: Pulisic could play No. 10 role vs. Lecce

The USMNT star may get a shot at a new role this weekend

Christian Pulisic has excelled for AC Milan this season as a wide attacking player, but it appears he could get a shot to play as a No. 10 this weekend.

Milan will face Lecce in a Serie A match on Saturday at San Siro, with the club’s usual No. 10, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, suspended after picking up a yellow card last weekend.

That leaves head coach Stefano Pioli with a conundrum. With three in-form attacking players in Pulisic, Samuel Chukwueze and Rafael Leão, Pioli could be tempted to try and fit them all into the same lineup in Loftus-Cheek’s absence.

The coach said at his pre-match press conference that he could play Pulisic as the No. 10 in his 4-2-3-1 formation, with Chukwueze and Leão on either side and Olivier Giroud at striker.

“It’s a solution we are evaluating,” said Pioli of the setup.

Chukwueze has struggled for much of his first season at Milan after a summer move from Villarreal, but the Nigeria winger has started to turn things around over the past several games.

“I am delighted with Chukwu,” Pioli said. “My collaborators showed him some videos today, and the stats we collected in the last three games are even superior to those from his time at Villarreal. He is fit, physically and mentally, he must continue like this. He has important characteristics for the attack.”

In January, Pioli indicated he’d like to try Pulisic as the No. 10 — or trequartista — at some stage, but he couldn’t at that point with Chukwueze away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

It seems like Saturday could be the time for Pulisic to play his first minutes in Milan as a trequartista.

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