Christian Pulisic is off and running in Champions League—it just might have taken him a little longer than he'd have wanted.
In Tuesday's first leg of the round of 16 against Lille, the U.S. men's national team star secured his first goal of the competition this season to double Chelsea's lead.
On a counterattack in the 63rd minute, N'Golo Kanté drew in the defense and slipped a pass to Pulisic off to his left in what would be his third assist in his last six games. Pulisic gathered the pass and bundled it home in between the goalkeeper and a sliding defender.
Despite scoring for the USMNT in a World Cup qualifier against Honduras, Pulisic hadn't scored for Chelsea since January 2 against Liverpool.
The strike is Pulisic's sixth Champions League goal of his career and fourth with Chelsea, with his last goal in the competition coming against Real Madrid in last year's semifinals. Pulisic then became the first male U.S. international to play in a Champions League final in Chelsea's win over Manchester City.
As defending champion, Chelsea looked rather comfortable in the 2-0 win over Lille. The Blues struck first in the eighth minute when Kai Havertz headed in a corner for a lead that Chelsea would never relinquish. The match was billed as a potential USMNT showdown between Pulisic and Lille's Tim Weah, but the French club left the latter on the bench as an unused substitute on the day of his 22nd birthday.
