Christian Pulisic was named Man of the Match today as Chelsea put in a dominant performance, coasting past Sheffield United 2-0 in the FA Cup quarterfinals.
The Blues remain undefeated, across all competitions, since Thomas Tuchel took over in January. Pulisic’s stats read like this: six of seven dribbles completed, four fouls drawn, three recoveries, 10/17 duels won, two chances created, four shots, two saved and 82 percent passing with a total of 62 touches.
Also thought Christian Pulisic had a great game, not much protection from the referee & I felt he was targeted by Sheffield Utd. pic.twitter.com/wO1G8Oehu5
— Frank Khalid OBE (@FrankKhalidUK) March 21, 2021
The 82 minutes was second straight solid showing, and perhaps this might earn him some more playing time? Maybe someday Tuchel might see the American as much more than a bench player?
This was probably Pulisic’s best individual game since recovering from his latest injury, and that’s a very good thing as Chelsea are really going to need him, and soon. They drew Manchester City (a side with legitimate designs on a quadruple) in the FA Cup semifinals.
NBC actually did a really nice and very detailed write-up of the Pulisic performance today, and you can check that out here.
Pulisic is getting to experience what Eden Hazard suffered on a regular basis. Targeted. #CHESHU
— Simon Johnson (@SJohnsonSport) March 21, 2021
Pulisic was a top trending term on Twitter today, and all of the takes I saw, I would probably say that the tweet above was the best. The Eden Hazard comparisons came in fast and furious during Project Restart, when Pulisic had his best individual spell, thus far, in his career.
If he’s truly turning the corner again, then you can expect to see more of that narrative.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.