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Christian Pulisic delivers star turn for Chelsea to show he could yet fill Eden Hazard's shoes
Christian Pulisic had insisted that he was not trying to be like Eden Hazard and yet the Belgian might just have seen shades of himself as he watched Chelsea’s number 10 from the Real Madrid bench.
It was the lack of these kinds of nights that convinced Hazard he needed to swap London for Madrid and it is performances like this, on these kinds of nights, that will give Chelsea encouragement that, in Pulisic, they might just have his heir in the making.
Operating from the right, rather than Hazard’s favoured left-hand side, Pulisic not only scored Chelsea’s opening goal, but was the English club’s chief creator, the man who drew the fouls to relieve pressure and tracked back with such tenacity that he earned a yellow card.
Just as Pulisic did not display his best form under former head coach Frank Lampard until the second half of last season, it has taken some time for the American to convince Thomas Tuchel he is the man for the big occasion. But, on Tuesday night, in the heavy rain, he was just that.
Hazard would have been proud of the finish Pulisic produced from Antonio Rudiger’s excellent ball over the Real defence in the 14th minute. Former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had not conceded a goal for over six hours, so taking it round the Belgian with the ease that he did before passing the ball between two defenders and into the net took considerable skill.
Given his other goals this term had come against Crystal Palace, West Bromwich Albion, Leeds United and Krasnodar, the strike against Real was by far Pulisic’s most telling contribution of the season so far but there was so much more to his game.
Minutes before opening the scoring himself, Pulisic had put a chance on a plate for Timo Werner with a lovely cushioned header, but, unlike his team-mate, the German could not find the right finish.
Werner’s work-rate was exceptional yet again for Chelsea, but it was hard not to compare his finishing to that of Real striker Karim Benzema, who hit the post and pulled his team back on level terms with a wonderful volley.
Pulisic looked capable of opening up Real’s defence every time he got the ball and it was from his pass that Ben Chilwell shot wide. How the former Borussia Dortmund star must wish he had a Benzema or a Diego Costa, as Hazard did during his Chelsea days, to aim for.
Hazard would so often finish games with his socks falling to pieces from the number of rips inflicted by stray studs and Pulisic drew fouls in good positions for Chelsea, one of which earned Vinicius Junior a yellow card.
There have been times during his Chelsea career that Pulisic’s mentality has been questioned and yet he got up from every kick, went again and was not afraid to put himself in danger or put his foot in. He may not be loud of mouth, but this was anything but an introverted display.
Pulisic joined Vinicius in the referee’s book for the only moment that was not so similar to Hazard. If there was one criticism of Real star during his time at Chelsea it was that he would rarely help out his defenders, but Pulisic did his best to support Cesar Azpilicueta when needed and was booked for bringing down Marcelo.
When Tuchel’s side were struggling to get hold of the ball at the start of the second half, it was Pulisic’s quick feet and turn that won him a foul from Marcelo and Chelsea were able to steady themselves.
The Brazilian was booked for another foul on the Chelsea number 10 as he dribbled away from his own area and that proved to be Pulisic’s last action, as he was replaced by Hakim Ziyech.
It was a shame in some respects that as Pulisic went off, Hazard went on for Real, meaning the pair did not share the same pitch at any stage. Given his pre-match desire to play down any likeness, however, the Chelsea man may have been relieved to have been spared the direct comparisons.
But Pulisic, particularly in the first half, had proved he is capable of providing Chelsea with some stardust in the biggest of games and Hazard still looked short of full fitness during his 25 minutes against his former club, although one pass almost opened up the visiting defence.
The Belgian may be in a better condition to make his own impact come next week’s second leg at Stamford Bridge and one would imagine Pulisic did enough to make sure he will have a big part to play on what will be a decisive night.
