The English Premier League resuming play this week meant that Chelsea had their first match since March. But Christian Pulisic had actually been waiting a lot longer than that, having not played since January due to injury.
Today, with Chelsea down 1-0 at Villa Park, Pulisic came on and made an immediate impact, finishing off a cross on the back post to equalize.
Seconds later, Chelsea took the lead for good through Olivier Giroud:
After the match, Pulisic talked about what it meant to be back after such a long layoff:
Who knows when international soccer will resume, but with Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Tyler Adams, and many more young players finally hitting their stride in Europe, the USMNT might actually be relevant again. At the very least, Pulisic was certainly less rusty than the Villa Park irrigation system, which had a few issues.
All in all, hard to ask for a better return for Pulisic. Hopefully he can stay healthy, a phrase which has taken on an entirely new layer of meaning now.
About Jay Rigdon
Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.