MN: Pulisic remains Milan’s ‘clutch’ man – he was the game-breaker against Empoli | OneFootball

Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez may take the headlines because of the goals they scored, but Christian Pulisic was the man who took the Player of the Match award.

As MilanNews writes, the term ‘clutch’ in American sports indicates a player who takes the stage in moments of greater pressure and this is precisely the leap that Pulisic has made this season, both compared to last season – which was a record for him – and compared to his career in general.

This season more than ever the boy from Hershey is taking on the role of ‘Captain America’ to save his team. Even yesterday evening against Empoli, he came off the bench at a difficult moment: he wasn’t feeling 100%, Milan had been harmless against Empoli and the three points were obligatory.

Though two of his bits of creativity, Milan got the goals they needed to resolve a tough situation. The first was a perfectly weighted cross to the far post that Leao was on hand to head home, while the second was great hold-up play for Gimenez to score his first for the club.

As mentioned, Pulisic had already put together record numbers for his career last year with 15 goals and nine assists. This season the winger is already in a good position to improve his numbers with 12 total goals and seven assists.

More Stories / The Match

MN: Pulisic remains Milan’s ‘clutch’ man – he was the game-breaker against Empoli

9 February 2025, 14:55

MN: Conceicao’s heart-warming gesture after Empoli win involving young fan

9 February 2025, 14:05

CM: An ‘enormous symbolic message’ – Conceicao grateful to Leao after Empoli showing

9 February 2025, 13:40

His performance level is very high in Serie A, where he is literally the best in terms of assists: of his 16 total assists, 14 have come in the league where no one since his arrival has managed to do better than him.

As mentioned, however, it is not just a question of numbers but of attitude, mentality and danger. The extra step compared to last year was his performance in the big matches: this year he scored against Inter twice, against Juventus , in the Champions League and beyond.