Before Christian Pulisic came off the bench with Chelsea trailing Aston Villa and immediately changed the momentum of Sunday’s 2-1 comeback win with a goal, a segment of American soccer fans was beside itself.
The reason? Pulisic, the 21-year-old U.S. national team headliner who’s in his first season in England’s vaunted Premier League, wasn’t in manager Frank Lampard’s lineup for Chelsea’s first match since the coronavirus pandemic put the Prem on pause more than three months ago.
Pulisic’s game-altering performance surely improved their moods, as well as his odds of featuring in Lampard’s starting 11 for Thursday’s stiffer test against Manchester City.