Christian Pulisic is on pace for the best season of his career — in a campaign that will conclude with a home World Cup for the United States.
The American standout scored the opening goal for AC Milan in a 3-0 victory over Hellas Verona in Serie A on Sunday to raise his total to 10 goals and two assists in 15 matches across all competitions with the Rossoneri.
The victory kept Milan within one point of Serie A leader Inter Milan, which won 1-0 at Atalanta.
Defending champion Napoli, which won 2-0 at Cremonese, remained two points back in third.
Massimiliano Allegri’s Milan hasn’t lost in Serie A since being beaten by Cremonese in the season opener in August. This was the Rossoneri’s final game of 2025.
Pulisic was in the right place at the right time to volley in from close range in first-half added time, following a corner from Luka Modric that was headed on by Adrien Rabiot.
After the break, Nkunku converted a penalty for his first Serie A goal and then added another four minutes later by knocking in the rebound of a shot from Modric that was turned onto the post by the goalkeeper.
Last season — his best so far — Pulisic produced 17 goals and 12 assists in 50 matches.
In all, Pulisic has been involved in 50 scores (31 goals and 19 assists) since joining Milan for the 2023-24 season. Over the same span, only Lautaro Martinez of rival Inter has been involved in more at 54.
The U.S. team will be counting on that type of production from Pulisic for the June 11-July 19 World Cup, which will also be co-hosted by Canada and Mexico.
Lautaro’s finish
In Bergamo, Lautaro scored midway through the second half following an errant pass by Atalanta defender Berat Djimitsi.
Djimitsi’s pass in his own half went straight to Pio Esposito, who set up Lautaro for an angled finish.
Both sides previously had goals waved off for offside.
Atalanta is 10th.
Hojlund brace
Rasmus Hojlund scored twice in Napoli’s victory — already boosting his output beyond what he produced at Manchester United last season.
Hojlund now has six goals in 12 Serie A appearances for Napoli – compared to four in 32 Premier League matches last season. Both his goals came from the middle of the area.
Napoli beat Bologna for the Italian Super Cup title on Monday in Saudi Arabia.
Bologna’s winless streak reached four matches following a 1-1 draw at home with Sassuolo in a regional derby.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
