Associated press

MILAN (AP) — Christian Pulisic scored straight from a corner to put AC Milan on its way to its first Champions League victory of the season.

But the US international admitted it was an accident.

Pulisic surprised everyone when he curled in a kick from the left corner flag in the 34th minute to give Milan a 1-0 lead against Club Brugge on Tuesday.

Pulisic raised his arms and smiled broadly before being hugged by his teammates as he appeared to laugh in disbelief.

“Today it was a bit of luck, but it’s still worth a goal. I am very happy,” said a smiling Pulisic in Italian. “I didn’t try that, but it was a good cross, I will say that, and after a nice, nice goal, but I didn’t try that.”

Pulisic has scored seven goals for Milan this season in a fine start to the season. He also provided a number of assists.

“I work hard every day. I always want to be decisive in matches,” he said. “I’m very happy this year, I’m getting a lot of goals and assists, but that’s not always the case. So I’ll keep it up and hope to keep scoring.”

There was a late scare – and coach Paulo Fonseca certainly looked worried – when Pulisic had to be helped off the pitch late on after taking a blow to the knee, but the 26-year-old was able to return and almost double his tally.

Milan then beat Brugge 3-1 for its first Champions League points in the new format after defeats to Liverpool – when Pulisic also scored – and Bayer Leverkusen.

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