Christian Pulisic Scores a Late Equalizer for Dortmund

Wait, stop. Do you hear that? Yes, that's the hype train, blasting its whistle at top volume. Christian Pulisic continues to make a case for himself as the future of soccer—and not just for the U.S., but for one of the top clubs in the world. With fresh batch of rumors that Barcelona is interested in the 18-year-old from Hershey, Pennsylvania, it's hard for soccer-hungry Americans to calm themselves about the seemingly ceiling-less potential of the creative youngster.

If anything, going into today felt like a bit of a setback compared to his recent Champions League starts, as Pulisic was listed on Dortmund's bench for the match against Ingolstadt. But manager Thomas Tuchel reinstated his faith in the youth of his largely-injured team, by putting Pulisic in at the half. Pulisic rewarded Tuchel's trust just under ten minutes in—with a searing run along the touchline and a sharp cut back to make Ingolstadt defenders quiver in their boots.

Pulisic wasting little time in making his presence felt. pic.twitter.com/SDRFkYFMxA
— Nats Abroad (@NatsAbroad) October 22, 2016

And then, in the 69th minute, Pulisic either had a touch get away from him or made a wonderful pass to Adrian Ramos to bring Dortmund within a goal's reach of Ingolstadt. Either way, chalk it up as an assist.

But Pulisic's real crowning glory came as the match neared its end, with a doom-feeling impending as the scoreline was seemingly settled at 3-2 in Ingolstadt's favor. Then, in the 91st minute, came a cross from another youngster, 18-year-old Felix Passlack—though he was lacking no pass (groan)—which found Lukasz Piszczek on a header. Then came the save, which bobbled out, and landed right at the feet of the American wunderkind, who scraped up the leftovers like a hungry boy. Not the prettiest goal, but what a beautiful, beautiful future for young Pulisic.