ITALY – SEPTEMBER 20: AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic celebrates his team’s first goal with teammate Mario Gira during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Lecce USA on September 20, 2026 at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzani/Getty Images)
Christian Pulisic admits he has endured a “very difficult” 2026 for Milan and the US national team, but broke their goal drought after nine months, while Alexis Salmaak said they “enjoyed” their win against Lecce.
This is a scarred Rossoneri, they just lost 0-2 to Benfica in the Europa League and drew twice with Juventus and Lazio in Serie A.
They had a chance to prove it and dominated possession, winning 3-0 with goals from Pulisic, Adrien Rabiot and Diego Moreira.
This is Pulisic’s first goal in an official match since December 28, 2025 against Verona of Greece. He had previously shot 39 times in Serie A but failed to find the net.
Pulisic and Salmaak back on track
That’s not all, as the U.S. National Team forward was also the only player on the field today who exchanged passes with every one of his teammates.
“This statistic means I ran too much and now I feel tired,” Pulisic smiled to DAZN Italia.
“But that’s okay, we played really well as a team. It was nice to work hard with my teammates.”
Pulisic endured a nightmare in 2026, with no goals at all and recurring injuries, a situation that continued during the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“It was very difficult for me and also for the team. I’m happy that I scored but now we have to keep winning.”
Sallemaker didn’t score today, but he’s certainly involved in this new holding midfield role in support of Goncalo Ramos.
“It’s been a pretty tough week for us but the fans are always behind us so we’re delighted to get the three points for them today.” the Belgium international told Italy’s DAZN.
“The coach decides where he wants us to play and the most important thing is the team. We all performed well today and enjoyed ourselves on the pitch. I think those who watched us enjoyed it too.”
Ruben Amorim said he gave Milan players “more freedom” in this game, so how does that change things?
“I think we are players who speak the same football language and can understand it at a glance. The coach is trying to convey his mentality, and every player who came off the bench also made a contribution, including Moreira’s wonderful goal.”
“It proves that this team really has something special,” Saelemaekers concluded.