Christian Pulisic earned another crack in Thomas Tuchel’s starting lineup on Sunday and delivered with a strong individual performance.
The Blues lost 2-1 to Aston Villa in their Premier League finale, but Pulisic did impress with an assist in the result. Chelsea clinched a top four finish thanks to Tottenham’s 4-2 victory over Leicester City, and now can focus on next weekend’s UEFA Champions League Final.
Pulisic delivered a strong ball towards the back post in the 70th minute, which Ben Chilwell volleyed home to cut the deficit to 2-1. Chelsea would suffer defeat on the afternoon, but overall Pulisic finish with an 88% passing rate, one shot on goal, and another 90 minutes under his belt ahead of the Blues most important match of the season.
GAME ON.
Christian Pulisic sets up Ben Chilwell's goal. #MyPLMorning pic.twitter.com/Oln56RbJGz
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) May 23, 2021
Up next for the Blues is a date with Manchester City on May 29th in Portugal, with both teams aiming to bring home the UCL trophy.
Elsewhere, Ethan Horvath made only his fourth start of the season for Club Brugge, making four saves in a 2-1 loss to Genk. Tim Weah did not appear for Lille on Sunday, but did finish the Ligue 1 season as a champion. Tim Ream captained Fulham in a Premier League finale loss to Newcastle United while Julian Green helped Greuther Furth earn promotion back to the Bundesliga. Brenden Aaronson registered two assists as Jesse Marsch and Red Bull Salzburg ended its domestic season with a lopsided win.
Here is a closer look at this weekend’s Americans Abroad action:
England
premier league
Christian Pulisic started, registered ONE ASSIST, and played 90 minutes in Chelsea’s 2-1 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday.
Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 2-0 loss to Newcastle United on Sunday.
Zack Steffen dressed but did not play in Manchester City’s 5-0 win over Everton on Saturday.
Owen Otasowie did not dress (Injury) in Wolves 2-1 loss to Manchester United on Sunday.
Antonee Robinson did not dress (Injury) for Fulham.
Championship playoffs
Cameron Carter-Vickers started and played 90 minutes in Bournemouth’s 3-1 loss to Brentford on Saturday. Brentford advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
Daryl Dike came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Barnsley’s 1-1 draw with Swansea City on Saturday. Swansea City advanced 2-1 on aggregate.
league one playoffs
Lynden Gooch started and played 90 minutes in Sunderland’s 2-1 win over Lincoln City on Saturday. Lincoln City advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
Germany
bundesliga
Matthew Hoppe started and played 89 minutes in Schalke’s 1-0 loss to Cologne on Saturday.
Timmy Chandler started and played 81 minutes in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-1 win over Freiburg on Saturday.
Josh Sargent started and played 67 minutes in Werder Bremen’s 4-2 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday. Werder Bremen was relegated with the loss and Cologne’s win.
John Brooks started and played 57 minutes in Wolfsburg’s 3-2 loss to Mainz on Saturday.
Pellegrino Matarazzo‘s Stuttgart lost 2-0 Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday.
Gio Reyna came off the bench and played 11 minutes in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Tyler Adams is OUT (Injury) for RB Leipzig.
Chris Richards is OUT (Injury) for Hoffenheim.
2. Bundesliga
Julian Green started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Greuther Furth’s 3-2 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday. Greuther Furth sealed automatic promotion with the victory.
Tim Tillman dressed but did not play for Furth.
McKinze Gaines did not dress in Hannover’s 2-1 loss to Nuremberg on Sunday.
3. Liga
Justin Che started and played 90 minutes in Bayern Munich II’s 1-0 loss to Hallescher FC on Saturday.
Terrence Boyd started and played 87 minutes for Hallescher.
Regionalliga
Joe Scally started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Monchengladbach II’s 1-1 draw with Preussen Munster on Saturday.
Spain
La Liga
Sergino Dest started and played 90 minutes in Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Eibar on Saturday.
Yunus Musah came off the bench and played nine minutes in Valencia’s 0-0 draw with Huesca on Saturday.
Konrad De La Fuente dressed but did not play for Barcelona.
Segunda Liga
Shaq Moore started and played 90 minutes in Tenerife’s 1-1 draw with Espanyol on Sunday.
Italy
Serie A
Weston McKennie came off the bench and played 32 minutes in Juventus 4-1 win over Bologna on Sunday.
Bryan Reynolds came off the bench and played 45 minutes in AS Roma’s 2-2 draw with Spezia on Sunday.
France
Ligue 1
Tim Weah dressed but did not play in Lille’s 2-0 win over Angers on Sunday. Lille won the Ligue 1 title with the victory.
Belgium
first division playoffs
Mark McKenzie started and played 90 minutes in Genk’s 2-1 win over Club Brugge on Sunday.
Ethan Horvath started, made four saves, and played 90 minutes for Club Brugge.
Matt Miazga started and played 13 minutes in Anderlecht’s 1-0 loss to Royal Antwerp on Sunday. Miazga was sent off after receiving a red card. Anderlecht qualified for the Europa Conference League qualifying round.
Austria
bundesliga
Brenden Aaronson started, registered TWO ASSISTS, and played 90 minutes in Red Bull Salzburg’s 4-0 win over WSG Swarovski Tirol on Saturday.
Taylor Booth started and played 60 minutes in SKN St. Poelten’s 1-0 loss to Hartberg on Friday.
Brandon Servania came off the bench and played nine minutes for St. Poelten.
Andrew Wooten did not dress in Admira Moedling’s 1-1 draw with Rheindorf Altach on Friday.
Erik Palmer-Brown did not dress in Austria Vienna’s 3-2 loss to Ried on Friday.
Sweden
Allsvenskan
Romain Gall started and played 67 minutes in Orebro’s 2-1 loss to Malmo on Monday.
Nebiyou Perry dressed but did not play in Ostersunds 3-0 win over Sirius on Saturday.
Denmark
Superliagen
Haji Wright started and played 74 minutes in Sonderjyske’s 4-0 loss to Aalborg on Monday.
Emmanuel Sabbi came off the bench and played 12 minutes in Odense’s 4-0 win over Horsens on Monday.
Jonathan Amon is OUT (Injury) for Nordsjaelland.
First Division
Christian Cappis started and played 33 minutes in Hobro’s 2-0 loss to Vendsyssel on Sunday. Cappis left with an undisclosed injury.
Switzerland
Super League
Jordan Siebatcheu did not dress in Young Boys 4-2 win over Lausanne on Friday.
Argentina
Primera Division
Alan Sonora and Independiente’s scheduled match with Colon was postponed on Saturday.
Joel Sonora and Talleres are off this weekend.
Brazil
Gaucho final
Johnny Cardoso did not dress in Internacional’s 1-1 draw with Gremio on Sunday. Gremio won 3-2 on aggregate.
Why delete my comment, im trying to help people out who want to see the game, not spamming nor begging for anything. renegademan1991 on twitch if you all want to see the game live. You all really need to chill and stop being so uptight SBI staff. You all send people to twitter for games and highlights whats the difference, wait their is not one! Smh!??♂️
Despite the opinion voiced in the article, I didn’t think Pulisic played all that well. In the first 15 minutes or so he was tentative, ,passing when he had space to drive into the 18 yard box on a couple of occasions. He did better after that, but despite his passing completion rate he didn’t seem as accurate as usual to me. Also, he gave up the ball on too many occasions, being outfought for the ball. Aston Villa in general seemed to win most of the individual duels just by playing harder. Chelsea was lucky to qualify for CL. I don’t know why Tuchel continues to go with Werner, who was very poor. Considering that most of Chelsea’s attacks were crosses from the wings, I thought he should have played Giroud, who is very good in the air.
I was curious about the Chelsea line up due to the UCL final. Do we expect the same line-up or a significantly different one? I think it will be significantly different with CP starting on the bench.
That being said, if TT did not start his best 11, he is very lucky to finish in the top 4 with Leicester City continuing its end of the year EPL losing streak.
I understand Giroud doesn’t exactly fit the Tuchel mold- will never be the inked in starter as long as he’s there, but certainly there has been plenty of situations in which he could have brought what they needed as a sub at least. Baffling when you’ve got a guy who is a beast in the box-does nothing but clinically finish most opportunities come his way that is rotting on the bench on a team that has struggled mightily for any kind of finishing. Pulisic does need to look for his own shot a bit more. Would be such sweet redemption if he could nick a few in the final. The Sancho to Chelsea rumors come to fruition and his super-sub status is cemented.
If Sancho comes to Chelsea I think he’s outta there; I just don’t see him willingly losing his starting gig to Sancho…again.
Pulisic is going to want games, and as good as he is now, he’ll get them somewhere. Liverpool has always wanted him and frankly I think he’d fit there better anyway.
I agree not CP’s best day – not his usual dangerous self. Found myself watching Grealish dominate and being reminded that we still have a long way to go to get to England’s level.
Nations League Roster release Monday 1:00 PM Central time according to USMNT official Twitter.
After a bummer of a Saturday Dike, CCV, and Gooch all being eliminated from promotion and Sargent going down. We had Chelsea and Juve being rescued late for CL, Roma clinching Conference League (I guess that’s good), Lille winning Ligue 1, Genk winning the playoff round (which apparently doesn’t actually win you anything), and of course Green and GF going up.
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Watched most of the 2nd half of Reynolds today. Did nothing really wrong but didn’t get much of the ball. I’d seen them earlier in the year and thought they just didn’t trust him but they wouldn’t pass it to the RB either. Everything was forced up the middle, which led to a lot of turnovers in dangerous spots.
Regarding Genk, shouldn’t it be at least a qualifier for Champions League or Europa League (aka Conference League)?
Sorry I was vague Club Brugge and Genk tied on Pts in the playoff round. After match day 34 in Belgium pts are cut in half so Brugge had their 20 pt lead on Genk cut to 10. Genk earned 10 more points than Brugge in the 6 match playoffs between the top 4 clubs because they tied with adjusted points Brugge gets the tie breaker for winning the regular season. Genk officially finishes 2nd and enters the Champions League in qualifying rounds. Brugge knew they had it mathematically locked up a couple matches early so they played rarely used guys like Horvath.
I can’t wait for the article of how many trophies Americans have won in club futbol this year. It’s gotta b a record. I noticed Shaq Moore & Tenerife played today. He started at CB. …and my boi Jann-Chris scored again. It was real cool to see Alex Mighten’ name get on last couple of weeks. Now, Bring on the Nations League, GC and the rest!!