ON THE PUL
Pulisic’s first Chelsea goal sends hundreds of fans in Texas beer garden berserk as they watch on the big screen
HUNDREDS of Chelsea fans in Texas went beserk as Christian Pulisic netted his first goal for the club.
Chelsea’s new American winger opened the scoring in Saturday’s 4-2 away win at Burnley.
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And Pulisic, signed from Borussia Dortmund for £58million in January before being loaned back to the Germans until the summer, followed up his opener with two more strikes for a superb hat-trick.
The 21-year-old’s antics were well received back home, with a crowd in Texas particularly enjoying the spectacle.
Chelsea revealed prior to the match that broadcaster NBC were hosting a beer garden party at Scholz Garten in the city of Austin.
And hundreds turned up to watch Pulisic claim the man-of-the-match ball.
Indeed, when the tricky playmaker netted his first of the game, the whole place erupted in jubilation.
Reflecting on his brilliant achievement, Pulisic beamed: “It’s unreal. What a day for me.
“I’m happy with the result and I just wish we had the clean sheet but in the end it’s a special day for me.
“I mean I’m not going to think about the clean sheet when I’m sleeping tonight but I’m very happy.
“I didn’t even know I got to keep the match ball and didn’t even think about it. Thankfully my teammates reminded me.
“Back in my youth days I got a few headers but professional ones probably not, it’s maybe the second one I’ve got that I can remember.
“It’s really special it’s happened today as well as being the perfect hat-trick. I couldn’t believe it when it went in and I turned around.
“The first few months were hard and I had a few starts then I fell out and I’ve been trying to get any minutes I can since that.
“I’ve made an impact in the last few weeks and showed what I could do and they saw that and gave me a start.
“I didn’t think it would happen right away, it’s a big club so it takes time and I’m happy with my progress so far.
“The team has been fantastic and they’ve helped me so much and so much advice given to me and the younger players have gone through similar things.
“Lampard was an incredible goalscorer and we work on it in training every day. I just want to keep going.”
Lampard reserved special praise for Pulisic after the game, adding: “I am absolutely delighted for him.
“There has been a lot of talk around Christian for the big price tag. He is quite rightly a star in his own country, captain of them.
“I know the back story, the pressure of big moves. He played for his country in the summer and had only a one week break.
“Then you have the pressure of whether he can deal with the Premier League so I have given him minutes.
“Christian has been performing from the bench and deserved his start. It was a fantastic match-winning performance.
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“I know what a good player he is. There are things he has to learn and improve. He has just turned 21.
“He certainly knows I am driving him daily in training. The way he has trained in the last few weeks says here I am. He showed the full package today.
“When he moves the ball so quickly then he can cause teams a lot of problems. I hope it gives him confidence, it should do.”
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Frank Lampard speaks to the press about Christian Pulisic's hat-trick vs Burnley
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