One week ago, Christian Pulisic looked like he might be facing another injury nightmare. A week later, Pulisic is looking more like a player in the midst of their next hot streak.
Three days after coming on as a substitute to help Chelsea close out an important Champions League shutout win against FC Porto, Pulisic scored two goals in Chelsea’s 4-1 win against Crystal Palace on Saturday, earning SBI MLS Player of the Week honors in the process. Pulisic’s double marked his second straight English Premier League match with a goal, and has him in good form heading into a difficult stretch of matches for the Blues, including Saturday’s FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City.
Pulisic beat out several impressive Americans Abroad performers for the latest Player of the Week honor. Here are the other candidates this week:
Daryl Dike
The young striker ran his goal tally up to eight with his latest impressive week, helping Barnsley post a 2-0 victory against Middlesbrough on Saturday. That performance came after he scored both goals in a 2-1 win against Luton last Monday. Dike has scored eight goals in his past 11 matches.
Gio Reyna
It has been a rough 2021 for Reyna at Borussia Dortmund, but the young American midfielder showed off his top form once again this past weekend, playing an instrumental role in Dortmund’s 3-2 win against Stuttgart. Reyna assisted on a goal and played a major role in the buildup of a second goal to help Dortmund earn a crucial win to keep alive its hopes of a Top Four spot in the Bundesliga.
Weston McKennie
Being limited to a bench role in recent weeks hasn’t kept McKennie from continue to contribute for Juventus, and he did so yet again on Sunday. He scored a goal just two minutes after entering the match in a 3-1 win against Genoa. McKennie played 22 minutes off the bench in Wednesday’s 2-1 win against Napoli, helping Juve solidify its place in the Serie A Top Four.
Tyler Boyd
Making the most of his loan move to Turkish side Sivasspor, Boyd started in a pair of wins this past week, including a midweek victory against Antalyaspor where he scored two goals. Boyd has scored five goals in his past six matches for a Sivasspor side that has lost just once (6-1-5) since he arrived on loan from Besiktas.
Great to see Pulisic score and not get hurt too badly. Every time he’s on the ground, I’m preparing for the worst… The thing about his form is that when he’s on the field, he’s been making timely, intelligent late runs to the goal all season long and the ball is finally finding him. For some reason it feels like Hudson-Odoi ignores him or not even aware enough to pick up his head and check- instead just boots the ball over the bar