Pulisic benefits from the Modric effect and Milan is flying high again

AC Milan - English Christian Pulisic - English Serie A - English Sports

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We hadn’t even finished praising him for the records he broke last week against Udinese, and yet he delivered another masterclass in Serie A’s big match against the reigning champions of Italy.

Christian Pulisic simply cannot be stopped this season. Napoli was just his latest victim. After only three minutes into the game, he received a pass from Estupiñán in Milan’s half of the pitch. We are sixty meters away from Napoli’s box: no one can sense even the slightest danger. No one, exceptChristian Pulisic.

He receives the ball with his back to goal, and with his very first touch -a perfectly directed rightfooted control with the outside of his foot- he decides he’s going to eat up the entire pitch. He pushes the ball forward 10-15 meters, just enough to set up a foot race with Marianucci (knowing full well the Napoli defender doesn’t stand a chance), while keeping it in play. He reaches the ball.

like a runaway bullet, just before it crosses the line, and nudges it inside with his left foot to cut back toward the center. Then, a split second before Marianucci can slide in, he touches it again with his left, leaving the defender for dead. Head up, he delivers a perfect left-footed ball to Saelemaekers, all alone at the far post. From what looked like an innocuous situation, Pulisic has created a goal. On his own.

With 8 goals and assists in his first seven official matches, he confirms himself as the most in-form player in Italian football, and the one who, between goals and assists, has contributed to the most goals since the start of the 2023/24 season (46 goals + assists), once again surpassing Lautaro, who also scored on Saturday night in Cagliari. Averaging a goal every 58 minutes, Pulisic currently boasts a scoring rate higher than Harry Kane, Haaland, and Mbappé.

In the 30th minute, he also found the net: after a brilliant run down the left from Pavlovic, Fofana provided the assist with a left-footed pass, and Milan’s Captain America finished with a deflected right-footed shot that beat Meret. After that, it was an hour of suffering for Milan, who played the final half-hour with ten men and conceded a penalty converted by De Bruyne for 2-1. But they held on stoically for a win that takes them to the top of the table with 12 points, level with Napoli and Roma.

It’s a completely different Milan compared to the one we saw last season: more compact out of possession, more of a team, obsessed with not conceding goals. And then, there’s one detail that can’t be overlooked: that “kid” who, according to his birth certificate, has already turned 40, but still runs with the enthusiasm of a boy on the playground, drives his teammates on, and at the final whistle -after having won everything there is to win in his career- drops to his knees in victory and lifts his arms to the sky.

Luka Modric has transformed Milan’s midfield, giving it balance and wisdom in every touch of the ball and every recovery, a leap forward that has elevated the Rossoneri to a new level. Allegri’s new system frees Pulisic from being confined to the wing: now he has the license to roam across the attacking front. He’s a knife through butter, slicing open opposing midfields, always finding the pockets of space behind their lines. To make things even better, against Napoli Rafael Leão returned after a 45-day injury layoff. Imagining the two of them together, in a side that defends compactly and launches transitions through Modri’s line-breaking passes, fills San Siro with the scent of glory.

Waiting for his next record, Christian Pulisic enjoys a dream moment, spending the night at the top of the table. The most important season of his career -the one in which he will have to lead his national team into a home World Cup- could not have started any better.

This news was originally published on this post .

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