Christian Pulisic was the hero for Chelsea in its 1-0 home win against West Ham United on Premier League matchday 34.

Even as Chelsea created keen goal-scoring chances for much of the match, it failed time and time again to find the breakthrough goal. However, this all changed after Pulisic picked out a superb ball from Marcos Alonso in the penalty box and slotted a shot attempt to the back of the net.

Pulisic's goal in this contest sure was a long-awaited one. He had not scored in a fixture since Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Lille OSC in the return leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie. More so, the versatile forward had gone almost two months without recording a goal in Premier League play.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel well recognizes that Pulisic has not had much to go his way as of late. But as the Blues boss touched on during his post-match press conference, he was pleased to see him contribute during a crucial situation in the fixture.

“Puli struggled a little bit since coming back from the international break where he had three matches, an incredible amount of joineries and timezones to cope with,” Tuchel said. “From there, he struggled energy-wise. This was my impression, on and off the pitch. It's sometimes like this.

“Now we have tried to bring him back in full confidence from the bench, and I am happy with the effort today, and I am happy he had the chance to have this big impact.”

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Christian Pulisic AC Milan

Fahad Hamid ¡

Christian Pulisic celebrating in front of the USMNT and AC Milan logo

Fremont Farkas ¡

Christian Pulisic AC Milan

Fahad Hamid ¡

Pulisic now sits at five goals scored in 17 league appearances so far this season. Overall, he has already matched his goal contributions total from last season when he tallied for six in 27 matches played in league play.

With the win, Chelsea created a bit of separation in the Premier League standings. The side now holds a five-point advantage over fourth-place Arsenal and is up on fifth-place Tottenham by a seven-point margin. More so, Chelsea does have a game in hand on both Arsenal and Tottenham.

For now, a pivotal league away clash against Manchester United awaits Pulisic and Chelsea up next.