GdS: ‘The true No.9’ – Pulisic steps up as Milan’s striker again with decisive derby goal

Christian Pulisic is AC Milan’s big-game man, and he proved it once again on Sunday night with the winning goal in the derby against Inter.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) write this morning, Pulisic’s goal against Inter was his seventh of the season and his fifth in Serie A, where he’s currently the joint top scorer alongside Riccardo Orsolini and Hakan Calhanoglu.

The American once again confirmed his role as the real ‘striker’ for Milan. With Santiago Gimenez injured, Rafael Leao struggling to get into the game and Christopher Nkunku coming on late, it was up to Pulisic to decide yet another game.

Milan’s talisman

This isn’t the first time Pulisic has scored in the Milan derby. He has already netted on two other occasions: in September 2024 in Serie A and in January2025 in the Supercoppa Italiana final.

Last night’s goal was a bit sweeter though as it directly resulted in a win (though the Rossoneri did win the other two games too), giving the Rossoneri three golden points both in terms of morale and in the league table.

Image: AC Milan

Another statistic confirms that the former Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund man is, in fact, ‘the true No.9’ at Milan: all of his goals this season have come from inside the box, as is the case for typical centre-forwards.

In his post-match interview with DAZN, Pulisic displayed his remarkable humility: “Mike was the MVP, 100%. I only scored one easy goal, he made maybe 10 saves. I was in the right place at the right time. So far, we’ve been playing well against the big teams, now we have to maintain this level even when we play against the others.”

Lazio arrive at San Siro on Saturday, and Captain America hopes to be as decisive as he was in September 2023.