Chelsea manager Frank Lampard left out USMNT captain Christain Pulisic from his starting eleven for the crucial away match against EPL champions, Liverpool.
Christian Pulisic had picked up an injury in their 1-0 win against Norwich, a game in which he assisted the only goal of the game for Olivier Giroud. The injury made him miss the 1-3 FA cup win against Machester United but was fit enough to play against Liverpool.
The American star could only watch on as his team chased the game already 4 goals behind at Anfield.
The Champions got their first goal through a ferocious shot from midfielder Naby Keita from 20 yards after stealing the ball from Willian in the 23rd minutes of the game, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s doubled the lead with a beautifully taken free-kick just 15 minutes after, while Winjnaldum pounced on a loose ball to extend the champions lead.
Olivier Giroud grabbed one for his team by reacting the quickest right at the stroke of half time, but things got worse for the Blues has Alexander-Arnold delivered a delicious cross for Roberto Firmino to head in his first goal of the season at Anfield just 10 minutes after the restart of the second half.
Christian Pulisic was finally called off the bench to salvage something from what’s left of the game in the 60th minute with Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi also introduced.
The American star made an instant impact on the game as he danced through three Liverpool players before nutmegging Joe Gomes to set up fellow substitute Abraham for a tap-in goal to make the scoreline 4-2.
Pulisic’s direct style of play continued to cause problems for the Liverpool defence. He almost registered his name on the scoresheet as he placed his shot wide of the right post after receiving a cross-field pass from Reece James.
But made better use of his next chance as another substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi found Pulisic in space as he showed great composure and technique to turn and fire past Alisson into the top left corner to further cut the goal deficit to just one goal.
However, Liverpool struck on the counter in the 84th minutes to put the game beyond reach as another substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain finished off a Liverpool counter attack.
9 – Christian Pulisic has scored nine @premierleague goals this season; among American players, only Clint Dempsey (17 in 2011-12 and 12 in 2010-11) has ever scored more in a campaign. Lightning. pic.twitter.com/mgxUw7ZD8u
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 22, 2020
In 30 minutes of play, Pulisic had 23 touches, 3 shots, 1 on target, completed 3 out of 4 dribbles won 4 duels made 1 interception, and 1 assist to his name.
Who knows if Pulisic had played more than just 30 minutes of the game, Chelsea could have gotten a better result, they so much need to secure the coveted top 4 slot they desire.
Chelsea goes into the final game of the season against Wolves on Sunday with the hope to secure a top 4 spot with either a win or a draw. While they’ll have an eye on the result from the game at King’s power stadium for the match between Manchester United and Leicester, hoping for either of the two teams to slip up.
