Christian Pulisic scores, subbed off due to injury in Chelsea loss

Christian Pulisic was forced to leave Chelsea FC’s disastrous 5-2 loss to West Bromwich Albion FC at halftime with what appears to be a hamstring tweak or injury.

The Hershey product scored his second goal of this EPL season, his first under Thomas Tuchel, by professionally putting in a long rebound from a free kick in the first half.

It was Pulisic’s 2nd goal in a week, as he scored for the USMNT from the penalty spot last Sunday against Northern Ireland. It was all downhill from Chelsea from there. A second yellow card to Thiago Silva in the 29th minute left the Blues down a man and they surrendered two goals in injury time before half.

Following the red card to Silva, Chelsea Tom Tuchel pulled Hakim Ziyech from the attack, leaving Pulisic as a lone number 10, a sign of confidence given Pulisic’s uneasy place in Tuchel’s pecking order.

Another signal of confidence was felt with Pulisic set to take the pitch for the second half. Tuchel was set to pull Timo Werner for Mason Mount, but Pulisic was unable to take the pitch. While striding to take the pitch for the restart, Pulisic came up shy. He calmly walked back to Tuchel to say he couldn’t go. Werner came sprinting out of the locker room after that to take the pitch and save the substitution.

Tuchel confirmed it was a hamstring after the match. But no further prognosis has been shared. If serious, it’s a frustrating pause on Christian Pulisic’s efforts to push his way back into the Chelsea starting XI.