Americans Abroad: Christian Pulisic powers Dortmund past Bobby Wood's Hamburg
As a forward on the US men's national team, Bobby Wood is likely delighted to see a creative player like fellow young star Christian Pulisic take the field. Not so much when they are on rival sides in a Bundesliga match.
Traveling to the north of Germany to take on Wood's Hamburg side, Pulisic and Dortmund had the opportunity to go top of the table on Wednesday night ahead of rivals Bayern Munich. While his compatriot spent much of the night on an island for Hamburg playing as the loan forward, Pulisic was integral to Dortmund's fluid attack in a 3-0 win.
Shinji Kagawa broke the match open in the 24th minute finishing off a scramble following a Dortmund set piece, as the visitors took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
In the second 45, Pulisic's influence grew on the game and it was his incisive dribble at the heart of the Hamburg defense that led directly to Dortmund's second goal. Picking up a pass in the center of the pitch on a Dortmund counter, Pulisic charged quickly at the Hamburg center backs freeing up Andriy Yarmolenko to the right of the box. Yarmolenko's angled shot was deflected but provided an unchallenged tap-in for forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 63rd minute.
With his team leading 2-0, Pulisic got his own name on the score sheet with a nifty finish following a strong run at the Hamburg goal.
Dortmund and Pulisic would go on to collect all three points on the night 3-0, while Wood's night would end with a late substitution having played an isolated figure for Hamburg much of the match.
