US national team starlet Christian Pulisic accomplished a life goal on Wednesday, starting for Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League. On Saturday, Pulisic got his first minutes in the Bundesliga this season and did not disappoint.
The 17-year-old winger started on the right of Dortmund's 4-3-3 against Darmstadt, who started off their season with a win and a loss. Pulisic was not overly dangerous on the right but in the 53rd minute he broke through, passing the ball into an empty net off a deflection for his first goal this season. The goal put Dortmund up 3-0.
Christian Pulisic scores! The 17-year-old American is on fire. https://t.co/c790hMHRlj
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 17, 2016
Pulisic moved over to the left in the 71st minute, which is where he was a real menace. He created two chances, one of which ended in a Gonzalo Castro goal, and made the Darmstadt defense look silly on a couple of occasions. He finished off his day with another assist in the 87th minute, sending a cross in from the right which Emre Mor calmly finished.
Pulisic finished the game with a goal, two assists, three shots, three chances created while completing 39 of 44 passes. Dortmund won the game 6-0 to move to 2-0-1 in the Bundesliga.
.@BVB goalscorer @cpulisic_10 discusses #BVBD98 on #Bundesliga Matchday 3 https://t.co/vUMiiejHSz
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) September 17, 2016
Bobby Wood got another start for Hamburg, but they were trounced by RB Leipzig at home 4-0 as Wood was subbed off in the 83rd minute.
Two US national team players faced off later today as Fabian Johnson got an assist in Borussia Monchengladbach's 4-1 win against Aron Johannsson's Werder Bremen. Johannsson subbed on at halftime, got an assist and was shown a red in the 80th minute.
Elsewhere in Germany, USMNT fringe players Timothy Chandler and Alfredo Morales started for their clubs. Chandler played 90 minutes for Eintracht Frankfurt, as they upset Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at home. Morales played 63 minutes for Ingolstadt as they were defeated 3-1 by Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
