Christian Pulisic explains why he decided to ‘steal’ the Rafael Leao goal against Slavia Praha and admits Milan feel regret their 4-2 first leg advantage wasn’t bigger.
The USMNT star certainly made an impression in this Europa League Round of 16 tie, as his ankle was caught by the studs of El Hadji Malick Diouf, reducing Slavia Praha to 10 men after just 26 minutes.
That is the third different player who has been sent off for fouling Pulisic in the last two games, after he helped reduce Lazio to eight men in Serie A on Friday.
After that, the former Chelsea man also got on the scoresheet, as Rafael Leao went on a sparkling run down the left and had dinked the goalkeeper from a tight angle, only for Pulisic to prod it on the line. Was the Portuguese talent angry at having his goal ‘stolen’?
“I wasn’t sure if it was going in, so I felt like I had to touch it,” confessed Pulisic to Sky Sport Italia.
“I have my personal goals and assists, but the most important thing is to win. Of course, in this competition we all want to go to the Final and to win it.”
Considering Milan were against 10 men for over an hour, are there regrets that they didn’t seal up qualification for the Europa League quarter-finals with a more comfortable victory than 4-2?
“Of course, we’re happy with the advantage, but it’s a strange feeling because with one man more I feel like we could’ve done more, have a bigger advantage for sure. But we can’t change the past now, we have to prepare for Prague.”
At least the away goals rule no longer applies, otherwise conceding twice at home to 10 men would’ve felt potentially even more damaging.
It means Milan can go to Prague and lose by one clear goal, but two would prompt extra time.
Should Rafael Leão be ANGRY at Christian Pulisic for his goal? 👀
The #UEL studio crew are divided 😅 pic.twitter.com/tTwNX9XlmP
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 7, 2024