Pulisic's early strike and Hutchinson's debut goal lift Milan past Udinese
A quick Modric free-kick, a sharp Pulisic run and a poacher's finish from debutant Omari Hutchinson gave a depleted Milan a 2-0 win at Udinese.
Milan needed a response after Thursday's 3-0 Europa League defeat at Bournemouth, and they got one at Stadio Friuli, beating Udinese 2-0 with a side missing seven first-team players.
Adrien Rabiot, Diego Moreira, Mario Gila, Samuel Chukwueze, Matteo Gabbia, Alexis Saelemaekers and Pietro Terracciano were all unavailable, forcing heavy squad rotation, Football Italia reported.
Christian Pulisic opened the scoring inside six minutes, and Omari Hutchinson, on loan from Nottingham Forest, scored his first Milan goal to make it 2-0.
How the opener punished a flat-footed defence
Pulisic's goal came from a quick free-kick taken by Luka Modric over the top of the Udinese line, catching defenders upfield before they could reset.
That is a transition weapon rather than a set-piece routine in the conventional sense: it relies on the taker reading hesitation in the opposition rather than a choreographed delivery.
Pulisic described his part in mechanical terms. "When Modric has the ball and a little time, my job is to run into space and be ready," he told DAZN Italia, as relayed by Football Italia.
He credited his finish to a clean first touch, adding, "I had a good first touch and scored the goal. Last season, I scored a similar goal when offside, so I wasn't sure whether to celebrate after it went into the net."
The hesitation was understandable. A quick free-kick exploiting an unset offside line will often leave the scorer unsure whether the flag has gone up, and Pulisic's past experience with the same scenario explains his caution before celebrating.
A fast start breaks a recurring pattern
Milan have often been slow out of the blocks this season, and Pulisic was direct about what Friuli showed by contrast. "We've got to start games the way we did today, because there are other matches where we take a little time to get into gear," he said.
"Today we scored early, we had that intensity and it helped to set us up for the victory," he continued, framing the early goal as a platform rather than a formality.
An early lead changes the shape of a match for the side holding it: it invites the opponent to commit numbers forward, opening the space in behind that a team built on Pulisic's running and Modric's passing range can exploit on the counter.
Asked whether his growing experience in the squad gives him a leadership role, Pulisic deflected the question toward the collective. "There are many leaders in the team. I am not someone who talks a lot, but with so many injuries today, everyone did really well," he said.
Hutchinson's rebound finish and a gesture for the stands
The second goal came from a loose ball after Ardon Jashari's shot was parried, with Hutchinson alert enough to convert the rebound for his first Milan goal.
That kind of second-phase finish depends less on structure than on anticipation, arriving in the right space the instant a goalkeeper fails to hold a save, and it marked a productive debut goal for a player signed late in the window on loan with an option to buy.
Hutchinson then gave the shirt away to a child in the stands as soon as he was substituted, rather than keeping it himself.
"I don't really care, I've got my Milan debut shirt, which is more important," he told DAZN Italia. "I like to help out the kids, I'm a big inspiration to them, and I'm happy I got my goal. Besides, we get two jerseys."
Pulisic, by contrast, said he kept the jersey from his own first Milan goal and gave it to his mother.
Hutchinson reflected on his finishing more broadly. "It's a massive goal. I've had a lot of opportunities to shoot in games and haven't taken them quickly enough, so this means a lot. I hadn't scored in a while, I'm just happy to score and hope there will be more," he said.
Asked for a prediction ahead of the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London the following evening, Hutchinson kept it brief: "I think Kane or Mbappé."