Christian Pulisic returned from a lower-back problem as a second-half substitute and helped AC Milan to a 2-1 victory at Genoa, the report says. Pulisic entered in the 76th minute with Milan leading 1-0 and was involved in the decisive sequence that extended the Rossoneri’s advantage.
The report says Milan took the lead from a Christopher Nkunku penalty before Pulisic came on. Five minutes after his introduction, the 27-year-old laid the ball off to Zachary Athekame, who drilled a shot into the bottom corner from outside the area to make it 2-0.
Genoa pulled a goal back a few minutes later when Johan Vásquez scored, the report says, leaving the final score 2-1. The report notes that Pulisic missed Milan’s previous match with the back problem but recovered earlier than expected to make the substitute appearance.
Per the report, Pulisic has not scored in his past 18 league matches, a drought that stretches back to Dec. 28, and he has gone scoreless in eight games for the United States. The report says those figures are part of the broader context surrounding his return to action for Milan.
The report adds that the U.S. national team has friendlies scheduled against Senegal and Germany before beginning its World Cup campaign against Paraguay in Inglewood, California. In Serie A, the report says Napoli secured a spot in next season’s Champions League after a 3-0 win at Pisa with goals from Scott McTominay, Amir Rrahmani and Rasmus Højlund, while Roma’s victory left them level on points with Milan for the remaining Champions League places. The report says Juventus and Como sit two points behind, with the final round of matches to be played simultaneously. The report says information from the Associated Press contributed to this story.
