Chelsea scraped through to the semi-finals of the Champions League last night after negotiating a difficult second leg against Porto. The Portuguese side made life tough for the Blues, making a number of hard challenges.
Christian Pulisic was on the receiving end of a large number of them, with the American international being fouled on no less than eleven occasions.
The winger is very difficult to stop legitimately when he is in full flight and Porto’s players resorted to fouling him to try and nullify his threat. Supporters were, however, praising the 22-year-old after the game:
it was a warrior performance…Hazardesque!
— CFCtpa (@tpananth) April 14, 2021
Facts he was a warrior last night… even me as a player would call in for sub tbf
— CFC_Mike (@CFCmike2) April 14, 2021
Plus a couple of times when we played the advantage and a couple of times when play was waved on…
— Christian Scheffel (@Chris_DK_CFC) April 14, 2021
He certainly took some punishment but kept getting on the ball, carrying it, drawing fouls & relieving the pressure on our defence. Just one of many good performances. Excellent job done over both legs. C’mon Chelsea! #CFC #ChelseaFC
— Lloyd Wilson (@LloydWi40203447) April 14, 2021
That ref was very bad thou, very very bad…
— Λnele Τom?? (@AneleTom) April 14, 2021
No wonder we never scored,I think if they weren’t trying to take him out every five seconds I think pulisic would have scored or atleast gotten an assist ?
— Lewis gaming FTW #Falcon&WinterSoldier (@Lewis__Gaming) April 14, 2021
Pulisic did miss Chelsea’s best chance after half-time but, even so, he was a major threat, particularly in the second half, and it is a testament to him that he continued to show for the ball despite his rough treatment.
With his recent injury record, some would have been concerned by Porto’s decision to target him, but luckily he came out of the match relatively unscathed.