Christian Pulisic may not have gotten on the scoresheet on Wednesday, but it didn’t stop the in-form midfielder from shining against West Ham United.
Chelsea fell 3-2 to the Hammers at an empty London Stadium, with Pulisic putting in a masterful performance. The 21-year-old won a penalty kick, which was later scored by Willian, while also completing 89% of his passes. He also won two fouls in the offensive end of the field, but could’ve done better with his four shots towards goal. In what ended up being a disappointment for Frank Lampard’s side, Pulisic remained a lively attacker for the Blues and will look to carry that into a weekend home match vs. Watford.
Lampard praised the midfielder post match despite seeing his team suffer a first league loss February.
“It is a big positive, he [Pulisic] is playing well as everyone can see, plus with Willian as the two wingers, Willian got his two goals,” Lampard said. “Christian had a patch running up to Christmas when he was playing towards his level as well and he got injured and was out for a long time. So it is nice to see him back, fresh and hungry and playing with the quality he has. He is going to get better. He is a young player with great talent.”
Elsewhere, Tim Ream and Fulham overcame an early deficit on the road to defeat Queens Park Rangers 2-1. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Luton Town earned an important 1-1 draw at league leaders Leeds United while Antonee Robinson and Wigan Athletic claimed a 3-0 win over Stoke City. Jesse Marsch’s Red Bull Salzburg rolled past Sturm Graz in their first home match since winning the Austrian Bundesliga title.
Here’s a closer look at this week’s Americans Abroad:
England
Premier League
Christian Pulisic started, won a penalty, and played 90 minutes in Chelsea’s 3-2 loss to West Ham United on Wednesday.
DeAndre Yedlin came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Newcastle United’s 4-1 win over Bournemouth on Wednesday.
Championship
Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 2-1 win over QPR on Tuesday.
Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes for QPR.
Cameron Carter-Vickers started and played 90 minutes in Luton Town’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United on Tuesday.
Antonee Robinson started and played 90 minutes in Wigan Athletic’s 3-0 win over Stoke City on Tuesday.
Duane Holmes started and played 65 minutes in Derby County’s 1-0 win over Preston North End on Wednesday.
Luca De La Torre dressed but did not play for Fulham.
Matt Miazga is SUSPENDED for Reading.
Germany
3. Liga
Malik Tillman came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Bayern Munich II’s 2-2 draw with Duisberg on Wednesday.
Taylor Booth did not dress for Bayern Munich II.
Terrence Boyd started and played 81 minutes in Hallescher’s 1-1 draw with Kaiserslautern on Wednesday.
McKinze Gaines started and played 79 minutes in Sonnenhof Grobaspach’s 4-2 loss to 1860 Munchen on Wednesday.
Spain
Segunda Liga
Shaq Moore started and played 90 minutes in Tenerife’s 1-1 draw with Deportivo La Coruna on Tuesday.
Austria
Bundesliga
Erik Palmer-Brown started and played 90 minutes in Austria Wien’s 2-1 win over Rheindorf Altach on Tuesday.
Jesse Marsch and Red Bull Salzburg defeated Sturm Graz 5-2 on Wednesday.
Norway
Eliteserien
Romain Gall started and played 72 minutes in Stabaek’s 2-0 win over Stromsgodset on Wednesday.
Sweden
Allsvenskan
Aron Johannsson and Hammarby face Varbergs Bols FC on Thursday.
Mix Diskerud and Helsingborg face Mjallby on Thursday.
Switzerland
Super League
Jonathan Klinsmann and St. Gallen face Xamaz on Wednesday.
By about the 70th minutes I’m sure that every time CP22 got the ball the West Ham defenders were thinking, Oh, no, here he comes again.
While Chelsea play went mostly through Willian, Pulisic was clearly the most dangerous player for the Blues.
Chelsea seemed disjointed today maybe tired legs but it was a lot of one on one and against West Hams bunker that only produced when they drew fouls. Antonio was terrific for West Ham just owned Christensen and Rudiger I swear he won every 50/50 ball today.
I didn’t think Chelsea was all that disjointed on offense. My main complaint was that they tried too many hit and hope balls. Their defense of the counterattack was what did them in. Especially that last goal, one of the defenders went over toward the sideline to help a defender and he left the middle wide open. Once the guy on the wing got the ball away to a streaking Hammer attacker coming down the middle, the goal was inevitable. On another goal, the West Ham attacker came down on the right side of the box. The defender overplayed him to the outside. This forced the attacker to the inside so that he got clear in the middle of the box and with the ball on his stronger foot, allowing the goal. The defender should have driven him the other way, giving him a lot tougher angle on his weaker foot. Really bad basic defending errors.
I just felt there were a number of times players made good runs and the man the ball wouldn’t make pass dribble into trouble and then give up the counter. You’d think Ziyech will replace departing Willian and Werner for Giroud but they need a play maker in the middle Barkley and Mount don’t seem to have much creativity. I really didn’t watch much Chelsea before the quarantine so maybe I’m over generalizing.