Christian Pulisic becomes first American to score in Champions League semis

Christian Pulisic got the start up front for Chelsea in today’s Champions League semifinal opening day, and he rewarded manager Thomas Tuchel by opening the scoring in Spain.

Bringing down an overhead ball, Pulisic elected to go it alone rather than pass to Timo Werner (understandable, given how Werner wasted a perfect chance Pulisic created early in the match), Pulisic rounded the keeper and banked it in off a defender’s head.

IT HAD TO BE HIM. CHRISTIAN PULISIC 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/yfXK3v9H6E

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 27, 2021

Here’s the Spanish call, as well:

Hershey Pennsylvania’s Christian Pulisic becomes first American in our nation’s history to score in a Champions League semi-final. Genuinely joyous moment for American Men’s game. We are becoming normalized football nation 🇺🇸🙌 pic.twitter.com/YYVnCQVmq1

— roger bennett (@rogbennett) April 27, 2021

Again, Pulisic was incredibly active for Chelsea, who dominated the half (though went into halftime tied thanks to a Karim Benzema equalizer.) Here’s the earlier chance that Werner sent right at the keeper from close range:

TIMO…DENIED BY COURTOIS ❌ pic.twitter.com/wi7oBYjGIQ

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 27, 2021

It was a fun half of soccer, and if Pulisic can somehow find a winner in the second half, it could potentially be a legendary European performance.