U.S. Abroad: Pulisic lights it up again

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Sep 17, 2016

Just a few weeks ago, the talk was all about whether Christian Pulisic needed to leave Borussia Dortmund if he wanted he get consistent playing time.

Then, there was national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann wondering whether the 17-year-old phenom was ready to play 90 minutes.

Well, Pulisic played 90 minutes twice this week and followed on a highly rated performance in the Champions Leaguewith a goal and two brilliant assists in Dortmund's 6-0 win, its second victory of the week by that margin and biggest league win in more than seven years.

"It's the sort of performance we expect from [Pulisic] and he expects from himself." said Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel. "Christian did very well."

Pulisic has one goal and three assists in two starts this season for Dortmund to follow up two goals and two assists in the USA's two wins (6-0 and 4-0) in World Cup 2018 qualifying. That gives him three goals and five assists in four games during which his team has outscored its opponent, 22-0.

His third Bundesliga goal for Dortmund makes him only the second player with three Bundesliga goals before his 18th birthday. The performance against Legia Warsaw in the Champions League and Darmstadt prompted speculation about Pulisic's future. Sport Bild reported on Sunday that Dortmund wants to offer Pulisic a new contract to beat off interest from other clubs, notably Liverpool.

"I'm very happy," he said after the game. "I think I had a very strong performance in the second half. I'm always happy to come out with goals and assists, I think that's what an attacker should do."

Pulisic will celebrated his birthday on Sunday by going to a Justin Bieber concert at Lanxess Arena in Cologne.

"It was definitely a good early birthday present to get the goal," he said. "I'm very excited to go with my friends on my birthday."

Happy Birthday @cpulisic_10! Auch @J_Klinsmann sendet Glückwünsche an den Youngster des @BVB pic.twitter.com/h6DBIaL5tF

— BUNDESLIGA (@bundesliga_de) September 18, 2016

DENMARK, Superliga
Conor O’Brien (Horsens), 90 minutes, 0-2 vs. FC Copenhagen
George Fochive (Viborg), 90 minutes, 2-0 at Brondby

ENGLAND, Premier League
Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), 90 minutes, 1-4 at Crystal Palace
Lynden Gooch (Sunderland), DNP, 0-1 at Tottenham
Brad Guzan (Middlesbrough), DNP, 1-3 at Everton

ENGLAND, League Championship
Eric Lichaj (Nott. Forest), 90 minutes, 1-2 vs. Norwich City
Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City), 90 minutes, 2-1 vs. Sheffield Wednesday
Danny Williams (Reading), 90 minutes, 1 yellow card, 2-1 at Barnsley
DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United), DNP, 0-2 vs. Wolves

GERMANY, Bundesliga
Timmy Chandler (Ein. Frankfurt), 90 minutes, 2-1 vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Julian Green (Bayern Munich), DNP, 3-1 vs. Ingolstadt
Aron Johannsson (Werder Bremen), sub-35 minutes, 1 assist, 1 red card, 1-4 at Bor. Moenchengladbach
Fabian Johnson (Bor. Moenchengladbach), 86 minutes, 1 assist, 4-1 vs. Werder Bremen
Alfredo Morales (FC Ingolstadt), 64 minutes, 1-3 at Bayern Munich
Christian Pulisic (Bor. Dortmund), 90 minutes, 1 goal, 2 assists, 6-0 vs. Darmstadt
Bobby Wood (Hamburg), 84 minutes, 1 yellow card, 0-4 vs. RB Leipzig
Note: John Brooks (Hertha Berlin) is injured.

GERMANY, 2. Bundesliga
Russell Canouse (Bochum), DNP, 5-4 vs. Nuremberg
Jerome Kiesewetter (Fortuna Duesseldorf), sub-19 minutes, 0-2 at Heidenheim
Andre Wooten (Sandhausen), 65 minutes, 1-2 at Eintracht Braunschweig

ISRAEL, Ligat ha’Al
Aaron Schoenfeld (Hapoel Tel Aviv), 70 minutes, 1 goal, 3-3 vs. Ironi Kiryat Shmona

MEXICO, Liga MX
Paul Arriola (Tijuana), sub-4 minutes, 2-2 at Pachuca
Jonathan Bornstein (Queretaro), sub-17 minutes vs. Monterrey
Greg Garza (Tijuana), DNP, 2-2 at Pachuca
Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), 90 minutes, 1 own goal, 2-2 vs. Tijuana
Michael Orozco (Tijuana),  90 minutes, 2-2 at Pachuca
Jose Torres (Tigres), 66 minutes, 2-1 vs. Puebla
Marco Vidal (Veracruz), DNP, 1-3 vs. Morelia
Jorge Villafana (Santos), 90 minutes, 3-1 vs. UNAM
William Yarbrough (Leon), 90 minutes, 2-0 at Club America

NETHERLANDS, Eredivisie
Matt Miazga (Vitesse), DNP, 2-0 vs. Go Head Eagles
Rubio Rubin (FC Utrecht), DNP, 1-5 at Groningen

NETHERLANDS, Eerste Divisie
Shane O'Neill, NAC Breda, sub-16 minutes, 1 goal, 4-2 at RKC

NORWAY, Eliteserien
Alex De John (Start), 90 minutes, 0-2 at Rosenborg
Alex Horwath (Brann), 90 minutes, 3-1 at Bodo/Glimt
Cole Grossman (Stabaek), 90 minutes, 1-0 at Odd
Josh Gatt (Molde), DNP, 0-1 at Viking
Ethan Horvath (Molde), 90 minutes, 0-1 at Viking

SCOTLAND, Premier League
Perry Kitchen (Hearts), 90 minutes, 1-0 at St. Johnstone
Bjorn Johnsen (Hearts), 72 minutes, 1-0 at St. Johnstone

SWEDEN, Allsvenskan
Sunday: Matt Pyzdrowski (Helsingborg), vs. Norrkoeping
Andrew Stadler (Ostersunds), sub-32 minutes, 0-2 at Kalmar
Brendan Hines-Ike (Orebro), sub-4 minutes, 3-3 vs. GIF Sundsvall