USMNT star Christian Pulisic sparks Chelsea with late goal

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U.S. forward Christian Pulisic came off the bench to score in the 90th minute and earn Chelsea a 1-0 win over West Ham that consolidated third place in the Premier League on Sunday.

Pulisic, who entered as part of a triple substitution by Chelsea in the 76th minute, converted a cross from Marcos Alonso with a first-time finish off his left foot into the bottom corner at Stamford Bridge.

That goal spared the blushes of Jorginho, who struck a tame penalty at West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianksi in the 87th minute after his trademark hop-and-skip run-up. Craig Dawson brought down Romelu Lukaku for the penalty and was shown a red card after VAR looked at the incident to check there was contact in the area.

Chelsea moved five points clear of fourth-place Arsenal, which won 4-2 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to intensify the fight for Champions League qualification. Chelsea has played one game more, though.

West Ham rested key players like Declan Rice and Michail Antonio ahead of its appearance in the Europa League semifinals on Thursday.

Pulisic's goal sparked a reaction across social media, exciting a U.S. fan base looking forward to the Americans' return to the World Cup after failing to qualify for the 2018 tournament.

The 2022 World Cup begins in November in Qatar.

Reporting by Associated Press.