Christian Pulisic answered three games without a start by tearing Lazio's defensive structure apart from the moment he came on at the Olimpico, and Ruben Amorim had already told us it was coming.
The American's absence from the starting lineup had been a talking point since Amorim's arrival, but the coach framed it as a matter of context rather than hierarchy. Pulisic carried a summer injury, then picked up a knock in his first training session under the new regime. Amorim was never going to remove players who had earned their place just to accommodate a reputation.
"I won't remove anyone who's doing well just to put a 'name': this is my way of managing the group, and I will die with these principles. Pulisic is very important to me," the coach said before the Lazio match. He added that the schedule after the international break, eight weeks of three games a week, means everyone will be needed. "Pulisic is important and will play a lot of games."
What followed on Saturday backed up every word. Deployed as a right-sided attacking midfielder, Pulisic moved with the kind of intelligence that Lazio simply could not track. The home side had been comfortable defending man-to-man in the first half against a more static presence, but Pulisic's off-the-ball movement collapsed that plan. His involvement in Moreira's opening goal told the story in miniature: he received wide, freed Samuel Chukwueze with a backheel, continued his run alongside Adrien Rabiot, collected the ball unmarked, and delivered the cross that the Belgian volleyed home.
That sequence is a picture of exactly what Amorim wants from his attacking midfielders: players who link play, find space between the lines, and are effective in the final 30 metres. It is the profile Pulisic has always offered, and one that fits naturally into a system built around possession and a high centre of gravity. Amorim even hinted that Pulisic could operate as a false nine in certain match scenarios, which would add another layer of flexibility.
The caveat is fitness and sustainability. Last season Pulisic started brilliantly before fading physically, a decline made worse by coaching decisions and a team setup that did not make the most of his attacking brain. How much of Saturday's display was sharpness and how much was aided by entering the match fresh against tiring opponents is a fair question to ask.
Still, three games on the sideline clearly lit a fire under the 26-year-old, and Amorim welcomed that frustration openly, saying with a smile that he was pleased Pulisic was upset about not playing. Against Benfica on Wednesday, the expectation is that he replicates that intensity and technical quality, potentially from the first whistle.
Whether Amorim hands him that start will say a lot about where Pulisic sits in the pecking order now that the congested part of the calendar is about to begin.