On the Pitch

USMNT REWIND: Christian Pulisic Scores Two Goals, Earns Man of the Match for Chelsea

Weston McKennie, Daryl Dike and Tyler Boyd also found the back of the net in the last week
By: Michael Lewis

Whether he was shooting at the net or setting up teammates for some dangerous scoring opportunities, Christian Pulisic was at the top of his game for Chelsea on Saturday.

In his finest performance of the English Premier League season, the U.S. Men's National Team attacker scored twice in an emphatic 4-1 win over Crystal Palace in London. Named Chelsea's Man of the Match, Pulisic was the most dangerous player on the Selhurst Park pitch.

WATCH: Pulisic Scores First vs. Crystal Palace


After the visitors grabbed a 1-0 lead, Pulisic performed his magic in the 10th minute, powering home a shot from the left edge of the box into the upper left corner. He added his second goal from the left side in the 78th minute.

The goals tied Pulisic with Roy Wegerle for the third most (13) scored by an USMNT player in the Premier League. He now trails only Clint Dempsey (57) and Brian McBride (38).

 

WATCH: Pulisic Scores His Second vs. Crystal Palace

 

Pulisic's excellent performance capped off a memorable eight days. On Saturday, April 3, he tallied in the opening half of a tough 5-2 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion before he pulled himself out of the match as a precaution to a possible hamstring injury.

Four days later on April 7, he was back on the field, coming off the bench in the 65th minute to help the Blues secure a 2-0 win over Porto in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals in Seville, Spain.

Chelsea plays the Portuguese team in the second leg in Seville on Tuesday.

 

FINDING THE NET

 

Weston McKennie certainly enjoyed a memorable week for Juventus, reaching not one, but two milestones milestone. One was for the number of games he has played, the other for his goal-scoring.

In chronological order:

When he replaced Juan Cuadrado in the 69th minute of the team's 2-1 win over Napoli on Wednesday, the 22-year-midfielder became the second youngest USMNT player to compete in 100 matches across Europe’s top four leagues. It also was his 25th Serie A game after making 75 Bundesliga appearances with Schalke from 2017-20.

On Sunday, only two minutes after coming on for Dejan Kulusevski in the 68th minute, McKennie struck for the insurance goal. He latched onto a through ball by Danilo on the right flank and raced in on goalkeeper Mattia Perin before slotting the ball home for the final goal of Juventus' 3-1 win over Genoa.

 

 

McKennie has five Serie A goals this season, equaling the career total of all other U.S. internationals combined - Michael Bradley (three) and Alexi Lalas (two). He also has six goals across all competitions.

Third-place Juventus (62 points) trails second-place AC Milan (63) by a point with eight matches to play in Serie A.

Daryl Dike, on loan from Orlando City SC, continued his hot pace for Barnsley, connecting for the insurance tally in its 2-0 home win over Middlesbrough on Sunday. Dike, who has eight goals in 939 minutes over 10 starts and 14 league appearances, gave his side some much needed breathing room in the 75th minute. He met Callum Brittain's cross from the right with a point-blank diving header at the back post.  

 

Fifth-place Barnsley (71 points), is firmly within the EFL Championship Playoff picture with a five-point advantage over seventh-place Reading (65 points) with five matches left to play.

 

NOTABLE MOMENTS

Attacker Gio Reyna collected his fifth assist of the season to help spark Borussia Dortmund's 3-2 comeback win at Stuttgart on Saturday. Trailing 1-0 in the 47th minute, Reyna collected a pass in the penalty area one-touched back to Bellingham who fired home from the top of the area to level the score. Dortmund sit fifth in the Bundesliga, seven points back of fourth place Eintracht Frankfurt with six matches to play. 

Right back Bryan Reynolds (19 years, 285 days) became the youngest USMNT player to start in Italy's Serie A as he played the opening 76 minutes for AS Roma in its 1-0 victory over Bologna. It was his second appearance for the club.

At midweek, forward Tyler Boyd collected two goals in a 4-2 win at Antalyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig on Wednesday, April 7. He found the net in the opening minute and added his second goal, which gave the visitors a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish in the 36th minute. While he didn’t score in the club’s 3-1 home victory against Konyaspor on Saturday, Boyd did reach his 50th appearance in Turkish Super Lig play – the most of any U.S. international.


Tim Weah played the final 15 minutes to help Lille close out its 2-0 victory past Metz in French Ligue 1 on Friday. First-place Lille now enjoys a six-point lead over Paris St-Germain.

With one week left to play before the Championship Round begins in the Belgian Jupiler League, teams of two USMNT center backs find themselves in a battle for second place as Genk (56 points) and Mark McKenzie lead Anderlecht (55) and Matt Miazga by one point.

Miazga helped anchor a pair of vital wins last week as the team moved into third place. Anderlecht defeated fourth-place Antwerp on Monday, April 5, 4-1, before recording a stunning 2-1 win over first-place Club Brugge on Sunday. Anderlecht can clinch their place in the four-team Championship Round with a win or draw at Sint Truiden on Sunday.

McKenzie played the entire way in Genk's 3-2 victory past OH Leuven on Monday and then 45 minutes as a substitute in Genk's 4-0 win over Sint-Truiden on Sunday. The second win punched Genk’s ticket along with Club Brugge to the league’s Championship Round.

 

WHAT A START

 

Gyasi Zardes, who finished tied for second among Major League Soccer goal-scorers last season (12), picked up where he left off in his first competitive match of 2021. He struck twice within a 14-minute span (in the 19th and 33rd minutes) to lead Columbus Crew SC to an impressive 4-0 triumph at Real Esteli in the first leg of its Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 series on April 8. The defending MLS Cup champions will host the Nicaraguan side on Thursday, April 15.

 

 

FULL RUNDOWN:

 

-- Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig; German Bundesliga) – 45 minutes in a 4-1 win at Werder Bremen (April 10)

 

-- Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg, Austria Bundesliga) - 85 minutes in a 3-0 win at Rapid Wien (April 11)

 

-- Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC) - 75 minutes in 1-1 draw at Leon in CCL (April 7)

 

-- Tyler Boyd (Sivasspor, Turkish Super Lig) - 67 minutes in 3-1 win vs. Konyaspor (April 11); 71 minutes and TWO GOALS in a 4-2 win at Antalyaspor (April 7)

 

-- Michael Bradley (Toronto FC) - 90 minutes in 1-1 draw at Leon in CCL (April 7)

 

-- John Brooks (Wolfsburg; German Bundesliga) – 90 minutes in 4-3 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt (April 10)

 

-- Reggie Cannon (Boavista; Portuguese Primeira) – 67 minutes in 3-3 draw vs. Rio Ave (April 10)

 

-- Cameron Carter-Vickers (Bournemouth; English Championship) – 90 minutes in 4-1 win vs. Coventry City (April 10); 90 minutes in 2-0 win at Blackburn Rovers (April 5);

 

-- Konrad de la Fuente (Barcelona; Spain La Liga/Segunda B) - 90 minutes in 2-1 loss at Elvissa in Segunda B (April 11); In 18, DNP in 1-0 win vs. Real Valladolid (April 5)

 

-- Luca de la Torre (Heracles; Eredivisie) - 79 minutes in 4-0 win vs. Willem II (April 10)

 

-- Sergiño Dest (Barcelona; Spain La Liga) – 45 minutes in 2-1 loss at Real Madrid (April 10); 87 minutes in 1-0 win vs. Real Valladolid (April 5)

 

-- Daryl Dike (Barnsley; English Championship) - 90 minutes and a GOAL in a 2-0 win vs. Middlesbrough (April 10)

 

-- Nicholas Gioacchini (Caen; French Ligue 2) – 90 minutes in 3-1 loss at Grenoble Foot 38 (April 10)

 

-- Julian Green (Greuther Fürth; German Second Bundesliga) – Vs. Sandhausen, ppd. (April 9)

 

-- Brad Guzan (Atlanta United) - 43 minutes and RED CARD in 1-0 win at Alajuelense in CCL (April 6)

 

-- Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge; Belgian Pro League) - In 18, DNP in 2-1 loss at Anderlecht (April 11)

 

-- Duane Holmes (Huddersfield Town; English Championship) – 82 minutes in 0-0 draw vs. Rotherham United (April 10); 53 minutes in a 7-0 loss at Norwich City (April 6)

 

-- Matthew Hoppe (Schalke; German Bundesliga) - 6 minutes as a substitute in 1-0 win vs. Augsburg  (April 11)

 

-- Aron Johannsson (Lech Poznan; Polish Ekstraklasa) - In 18, DNP in 0-0 draw vs. Legia Warszawa (April 11)

 

-- Weston McKennie (Juventus; Italian Serie A) – 22 minutes as a substitute and a GOAL in 3-1 win vs. Genoa (April 11); 21 minutes as a substitute in a 2-1 win vs. Napoli (April 7)

 

-- Mark McKenzie (Genk; Belgian Pro League) - 45 minutes as a substitute in 4-0 win vs. Sint-Truiden (April 11); 90 minutes in 3-2 win vs. OH Leuven (April 5)

 

-- Matt Miazga (RSC Anderlecht; Belgian First Division A) -  in 2-1 win vs. Club Brugge (April 11); 90 minutes in 4-1 win vs. Antwerp (April 5)

 

-- Yunus Musah (Valencia; Spain La Liga) - 27 minutes as a substitute in 2-2 draw vs. Real Sociedad (April 11)

 

-- Owen Otasowie (Wolverhampton Wanderers; English Premier League) - In 18, DNP in 1-0 win at Fulham (April 9); In 18, DNP in 3-2 loss vs. West Ham United (April 5)

 

-- Erik Palmer-Brown (Austria Wien; Austria Bundesliga) – 90 minutes in 1-0 loss at Hartberg (April 10)

 

-- Christian Pulisic (Chelsea; English Premier League) – 90 minutes and TWO GOALS in a 4-1 win at Crystal Palace (April 10); 25 minutes as a substitute in a 2-0 win vs. Porto in Sevilla, Spain in UCL (April 7)

 

-- Tim Ream (Fulham; English Premier League) – In 18, DNP in 1-0 loss vs. Wolverhampton (April 9)

 

-- Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund; German Bundesliga) – 79 minutes, ASSIST in 3-2 win at Stuttgart (April 10); 27 minutes in 2-1 loss at Manchester City in UCL (April 6)

 

-- Bryan Reynolds (AS Roma, Italy Serie A) - 76 minutes in 1-0 win vs. Bologna (April 11); Not in 18, DNP in 2-1 win at Ajax in Europa League (April 8)

 

-- Chris Richards (Hoffenheim; German Bundesliga) – vs. Bayer Leverkusen (April 12, 2:30 p.m. ET)

 

-- Antonee Robinson (Fulham; English Premier League) – 90 minutes in 1-0 loss vs. Wolverhampton (April 9)

 

-- Miles Robinson (Atlanta United) - 90 minutes in 1-0 win at Alajuelense in CCL (April 6)

 

-- Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen; German Bundesliga) – 83 minutes in 4-1 loss vs. RB Leipzig (April 10); 73 minutes in 1-0 win at Jahn Regensburg in DFB Pokal (April 7)

 

-- Jordan Siebatcheu (Swiss Super League) - 81 minutes in 2-0 win vs. St. Gallen (April 11); 12 minutes as a substitute in 4-1 loss at St. Gallen in Swiss Cup (April 8)

 

-- Zack Steffen (Manchester City; English Premier League) – In 18, DNP in 2-1 loss vs. Leeds United (April 10); In 18, DNP in 2-1 win vs. Borussia Dortmund in UCL (April 6)

 

-- Tim Weah (Lille; French Ligue 1) – 15 minutes as a substitute in 2-0 win at Metz (April 9)

 

-- DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray; Turkish Super Lig) - 28 minutes in 1-1 draw vs. Fatih Karagumruk (April 10)

 

-- Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew) - 67 minutes and TWO GOALS in 4-0 win at Real Esteli in CCL (April 8)

Go Deeper

Christian PulisicMNT