USMNT star Christian Pulisic once again started for Chelsea, this time at Manchester City, as the American winger started ahead of Mason Mount and Timo Werner in the Blues’ biggest game of the season.
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Pulisic, 23, had a rough outing in his 68 minutes on the pitch, as he played as a right winger but spent most of his time defending.
That was mostly down to Man City’s dominance, but it was also about Pulisic and the Chelsea attackers not being direct enough when they had the ball at their feet, especially on the counter.
Below is analysis of Pulisic’s latest outing for Chelsea.
Minute-by-minute analysis of Christian Pulisic
1st minute: Lined up as a right winger instead of on the left. Ball came to him early but dribbled out of play to concede a throw-in.
3rd minute: Ball played in to him and controlled well and laid it off. Good composure.
9th minute: Played in by Kovacic on the halfway line, wriggled free and instead of playing in to Lukaku he played sideways. Promising break ends.
22nd minute: Not able to impact the game from an attacking perspective but kept Cancelo from getting forward. Having to get through a lot of defensive work.
28th minute: Played in by Azpilicueta on the right but took too long to cross and it was blocked. He was then offside as he picked up the rebound amid ironic cheers from the City fans. Not great. Commentators in the UK saying they can’t understand why Mason Mount didn’t start the game ahead of Christian Pulisic.
30th minute: Forced back into his own half on the ball. Kept it well under pressure but had to play backwards.
40th minute: Cancelo caught his calf with his studs as he slid in for a tackle. Nasty knock for the American but he hobbled on.
41st minute: Led a Chelsea counter as he found Alonso, but it comes to nothing once again.
45th minute: Got on the ball a few times as he tried to wriggle free and link up with Lukaku, but City’s defenders kept intercepting his passes.
49th minute: Dibbled inside and found Alonso but his shot was way off target.
65th minute: Hardly touched the ball in the second half as City pressed Chelsea back.
68th minute: Subbed off. Trudged off the pitch. A very quiet outing.
