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Christian Pulisic equaled his career-best goal tally for a season with his 15th goal of the campaign in AC Milan’s 2-1 win over Como on Saturday.
The goal came in his 38th game in all competitions, already matching the tally of his debut season with Milan, which came in 50 games. The 26-year-old is the first Milan player to score 15-plus goals in all competitions in each of his first two seasons since Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
His 47 goal contributions for Milan in all competitions (30 goals, 17 assists) is tied for the most for Milan since this past season, matching Rafael Leão.
It was also Pulisic’s third goal in two matches after his two goals last weekend helped Milan fight back to win 3-2 at Lecce and end a three-match losing streak.
Milan went behind again on Saturday, when Lucas Da Cunha drilled into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the area in the 33rd minute.
Pulisic said he was at a loss to explain Milan’s slow starts to games.
“I can’t give you a reason, we want to start the game stronger and I don’t know why this season we’re always in trouble in the first half. The important thing is to do better in the second,” he told DAZN.
“We have to be more positive, because we have won two games in a row. We have the chance to get where we want, but we think game by game.”
The Milan fans jeered loudly at halftime and it almost got worse for them four minutes after the restart, but Da Cunha’s second goal of the night was ruled out for offside.
Instead it was Milan which leveled four minutes later. Rafael Leão and Álex Jiménez combined on the left before picking out Tijjani Reijnders, who delicately dinked the ball over the top for Pulisic to sweep into the far bottom corner from a tight angle.
Reijnders also clipped the top of the crossbar before scoring the winner in the 75th minute, slotting home after being sent through on goal by a backheeled pass from Tammy Abraham.
Pulisic will next join up with the United States men’s national team for the Concacaf Nations League Finals, which begin with a semifinal against Panama at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Thursday.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
