Christian Pulisic marked his first appearance since the 2026 World Cup with an assist to help AC Milan rally to claim a 2-2 draw at Lazio on Saturday.
The United States forward had been an unused substitute in Milan’s first three games of the Italian league season, with coach Ruben Amorim acknowledging ahead of Saturday’s match that Pulisic was “upset” about his lack of playing time.
But with Milan trailing 2-0 in Rome, Amorim turned to Pulisic, along with fellow U.S. international Yunus Musah and summer signing Diego Moreira, to come off the substitutes’ bench at halftime.
Twenty minutes later, the substitutes made their mark as Pulisic sent a deep cross to Moreira, who sent an emphatic volley low into the net.
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Less than two minutes after that, Milan was level. This time it was Musah’s cross, which was touched back by France midfielder Adrien Rabiot for Moreira to drill home his second goal from the edge of the penalty area.
“In the first half, we were not there. The energy was not there,” Amorim told DAZN. “We lost so many possessions without any pressure, simple passes. It was easy for them.”
“But then in the second half, it was the opposite. It was a completely different team, a completely different game. We managed to secure one point but if you look at the game, we need to do better because you cannot play with just one half.”
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It marked a successful return to the field for Pulisic after his disappointing World Cup was ended prematurely by a bone bruise and microfracture in his lower leg that forced his withdrawal from the U.S. men’s national team’s 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16. It was a second injury of a disrupted tournament for the U.S. star.
Milan remain unbeaten after four games of the Serie A season, with two wins and two draws under new coach Amorim.
The team will next be in action when opening its Europa League campaign at home to Benfica on Wednesday.
